To Fight To Love
by Stitchpuppy01
Summary: The way you are right now, Yuffie, I like it. Very much."
1. Trespassing

*Disclaimer* I own absolutely no part of Kingdom Hearts or it characters, and though some dialogue may have been intentionally ripped from the game itself, I pretty much made all this shit up.

Trespassing

1

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When Yuffie awoke, she was dully surprised to find cool sand beneath her finger tips instead of sharp, jagged stone and cold, thrashing salt water. The sky was black, glittering with stars, and she tried to recall where she was. The last thing she remembered was falling off a high cliff, trapped by a powerful enemy who was, least to say, very unhappy with her for stealing from him.

But that's what someone like her did; steal and deceive. She was a ninja, and a darned good one at that (if she were to say so herself). Slowly lifting herself to her hands and knees, Yuffie reached inside her shorts to grab the goods she'd stolen from the stranger. "Ah," she sighed, relieved. It was still there. Made from a material she'd never seen before and stunningly beautiful, this little star-like charm was definitely worth the misfortune and undoubtedly worth her efforts in gold.

When Yuffie stood to slide it back in her pocket, she stumbled a little, nearly tripping over her own ankles. "Woo!" she exclaimed, shaking her head vigorously. "Better get my sea legs back." After giving herself a brief examination, she concluded that she was fine, save for some mild dizziness and wobbly legs.

"Hmm…" she mumbled, taking in her surroundings. It was dark, but even so, she could tell that in the daytime this place would certainly be something to see. Strange but lush green plants everywhere, an abundant procession of coconut trees, tree _houses_, mini waterfalls, and a breathtaking ocean right in view…but small. It was a very _small_ island, and despite the pretty scenery, that alone made her want to leave as fast as possible. A free and beautiful bird needs room to fly!

To get her blood circulation up and running, Yuffie assumed crouching position, allowing the adrenaline to work its way into her joints, and sprang foreword, putting her legs into motion. Yuffie could think of no better way of exploring than running and jumping like a wolf chasing a rabbit. The sand made for slower movement than she was used to, but the island was so small that the sand wasn't particularly an issue.

The air was coursing through her lungs, inflating her chest with excitement, thrilling her with the taste of night. Yuffie found lots of things to hop on, but little room to run. Bounding from shack, to tree, to bridge, she soon came upon a tall wooden platform with a narrow latter attached. She scaled it in a half second, climbing all the way to the tip top. Standing proudly, legs straight and poised with her chest puffed out, Yuffie let loose a long and loud "Woooooooooooo!" into the quiet night sky that ended in an explosion of giggles.

If anyone at all was on this miniscule spec of sand, they would definitely have heard her, but so far there was no reaction from anything anywhere. Yuffie sighed delicately, mildly disappointed at the lack of response. She was hoping for a little excitement. Maybe a large gorilla clan would jump out from behind the trees or perhaps a swarm of angry tribals with loin cloths and bone piercing would try to skewer and roast her. But alas, there was nothing.

Bending her knees, Yuffie sprang from the platform with one smooth, agile summersault and landed firmly upon the ground, every bit as graceful as the most talented acrobat and silent as a tiny sparrow.

Yuffie, being the grand explorer that she was, found a passage to another side of the island in a very short amount of time. There were actually three passages to the other side, but she took the small stone tunnel way immersed within the stone cliff that separated the island into two parts. When Yuffie came out into the clearing, she spotted another tiny beachside with a number of wooden bridges connected to leveled grounds of the island. As she mounted them, a small individual platform became visible in the distance on which lay a single, severely bent tree with fruit in the shape of…stars.

But did something move behind it? An animal maybe? Curiosity flared within her, and she was bounding across the sand within a matter of seconds.

Her feet made no sound at all as she made her way across the only sturdy looking bridge on the whole island. The bridge was connected directly to the platform on which rested the star-fruit tree, and looked like it had taken more time and skill to construct than the rest of the crooked ones that lay about.

There was no one there, unsurprisingly, and Yuffie wondered if maybe the wind and the darkness had played a trick on her. But she had perfect eyesight and was certain there had been some kind of movement from where she was standing. For goodness sake, she could even make out the shape of the fruit on the tree! In the dark!

"Star fruit?" she questioned aloud. "How weird is that?" Silently and carefully, Yuffie bound onto tree's trunk like a panther, leaning over to grab a fruit. Her slender arm stretched out far, her fingertips almost touching the skin of one of them, but a quick movement within her peripherals instantly caught her attention.

She had been right; there was someone behind the tree. It did not take long to process that this person had hidden themselves and waited for her to get close enough to provide an opportunity of attack; she was a ninja and was used to those kinds of scenarios. Her body sprang backwards off the trunk, curling into smooth backflip, and landed silently into kneeling position.

"Who are you?" both she and the attacker asked simultaneously.

Extracting the sound of her own voice, Yuffie could see that the other belonged to a boy. It was silky and handsome…and undoubtedly the voice of someone still going through puberty. Immediately she came to the conclusion that the stranger and herself were not far apart in age.

"You're the one trespassing on my island--you give you're name first!" he commanded.

Underneath the moon, which was covered by thin mask of clouds, Yuffie could clearly make out the shape of a weapon in his hand--a sword.

"Finally! Something exciting," she whispered enthusiastically. Even though the words were quiet, the boy heard her and readied himself for attack. "What are you doing out here all by yourself, kid?" Yuffie asked, erecting her position. Slowly she reached for the large cross on her back--her Oritsuru--and made an effort to make as much noise as possible while sliding it out of its holster.

"I'm not a kid," the stranger said, humorously offended. "I'm fifteen."

"Oooh, aren't you a big man?" Not that she was actually one to talk at sixteen, but whatever. She was looking for a fight anyhow.

"Shut up and tell me where you came from," the stranger demanded, getting right down to business. He was calmer than she'd expected someone in his position to be, which reminded Yuffie of a number of people she knew, and it excited her.

_Hope he fights just as good _she thought.

"Oh, somewhere off the coast," she responded perkily. "And is that any way to address a lady?"

"A trespassing lady," he replied sternly.

"Haha! And would you fight a trespassing lady?"

"Only if she were inclined to pick a fight."

"You pulled out your weapon first."

"And I don't want to have to use it, especially on a girl."

"I bet this _girl_ could kick your adolescent little ass."

"She'd have to get to my ass first."

_Oh my! I like this kid! _

"Well, that sounds like an invitation to me!" Yuffie shouted, leaping into the air with astounding speed.

The boy was quick, but just barely dodged the slash of her Oritsuru, and reacted by back flipping onto the trunk of the star-fruit tree. Yuffie thrust her weapon at him, making a buzzing saw blade of a sound as it missed his head and sliced off a star fruit. The fruit had just enough time to fall and splash into the water before it returned to her, caught expertly by her trained hand.

The boy made swift movements of his sword, jabbing and slashing, but they were easy enough to evade. Though slightly taller than herself, his height wasn't impressive, therefore, his reach wasn't impressive. Yuffie landed a smooth kick to his stomach, and he flew backwards with an unsatisfying grunt of pain.

What he lacked in reach, Yuffie found out, he well enough made up for in recovery time. His movements upon hitting the ground were instantaneously reflexive. His form curled upward, elbows bent backwards with his knees bending to his chest, and he flew foreword like a human spring, slamming Yuffie into the farthest coconut tree with both feet.

"Not bad!" Yuffie coughed out, but was hardly perturbed by the pain in her abdomen. She'd felt worse. A lot worse.

The boy made no response, as he was already running in for another attack, but Yuffie's recovery time was impressive too. She was already at the halfway point between him and her.

They both raised their weapons, preparing to strike at the same time, and the thin cloud hovering over the moon slid aside, allowing bright silver light to blaze through the night. Yuffie's eyes widened in horror when she caught site of her opponent, and just as the impact of her weapon was about to make contact with his body, she swung it out of the way, allowing his sword to dig agonizingly into her stomach.

The boy never imagined his sword would make contact that way, and so the both of them wound up losing their footing. Yuffie's back slammed against the ground just as the boy stumbled to the side, barely catching himself on a single hand.

"Ow!" he complained quietly, rolling foreword to his feet.

Yuffie was still on the ground, weapon aside, and clutching her stomach tightly with both hands. But she wasn't clutching her stomach in pain.

"Oh no! Are you alright?" exclaimed the boy, panic sharp in his voice. "I didn't mean to--" but he could no longer continue. Yuffie was doubled over, laughing with all her strength.

"Uh--wha--" the boy was confused, shocked, and for unknown reasons, offended. "What's so funny?" he shouted.

Yuffie rolled to the side, burying her face in the ground, laughter kicking up dust by her nose. A fri--" she sputtered, "a frickin' wooden sword! _A wooden sword! _You threatened me with a _wooden sword!_"

The boy's cheeks blazed hotly, and he was thankful for the cloak of night.

"A plaything! A baby toy!" she continued to rant, heightening the boy's rage and embarrassment.

"Wha-wait!" he exclaimed, "Are you telling me that that thing you were using is _real_?"

The cross shone in the moonlight like a bright silver diamond. Its sharp edges were as clear as day, gleaming like pointed teeth, and the boy's cheeks turned from red to green.

_She…was going to kill me? _he thought, mouth agape. "Who are you?" he demanded more furiously than before. "What did you come here for? Where are you from!"

Yuffie's hysterical laugh subsided into tiny giggles, and she rolled over onto her knees, swiping her Oritsuru off the ground in a single, agile movement, and snapped it back into the holster. "Take it easy, kid," Yuffie said light heartedly, standing to her feet. "I'm not gonna hurt you. I just wanted to have a little fun." She shrugged delicately and dropped her hands to her sides.

"With _that_?" the boy jerked his head toward the dangerous weapon on her back, his eyes narrowed with absolutely no trace of humor at all.

"I know how to use it," Yuffie said confidently. "I would never have killed you by accident or anything. I'm a _ninja_." She explained this as if it was the most common knowledge in the world. Or as if he were stupid.

"A _ninja_?" the boy repeated in a mocking tone.

"That's right!" Yuffie puffed out her chest proudly and jerked her chin upwards. "You're looking at the greatest ninja in the whole world! The _universe_! Be proud that an amateur like you was able to keep up with me. You got talent, kid."

"I'm not a kid."

"Yeah, sure." Yuffie shrugged one shoulder and sucked in a breath of fresh air. "Ahhh! That moon sure is something, isn't it? Pretty as the rarest materia." The boy was bewildered by her attitude, making ordinary conversation as if they were the best of friends and there was no fight just minutes ago.

Even though he wanted to ask what "materia" was, the only thing he said was, "Yeah…I guess." His right hand twitched, and he reached down to adjust his glove very slowly.

The tiny movement caught Yuffie's attention, and she turned her gaze on his face with a wide, unbreakable smile. A Yuffie smile.

Now that Yuffie could see the boy's face as clear as anything, she could see how ridiculously _hot_ he was. Firm, corded muscles, striking silver hair that flared out in spikes around his shoulders, appealing blue eyes that blazed like gemstones, and a mature, self-controlled exterior. Upon a quick glance, it was hard to tell he was even a kid at all. The only thing that gave it away was the pre-developed bass in his voice and his slightly rounded cheeks. But those features gave him an air of innocence she found alarmingly attractive.

Ah, but alas, she did not have time for _that_ kind of thing. A ninja can and must have no distractions.

"Put some ice on that wrist of yours, kid," Yuffie counseled. "You twisted it."

The boy didn't look down, only made a slow motion toward the injury with his left hand.

Yuffie walked past him, almost skipping, but the boy held her with his voice. "My name is _not _kid. It's Riku."

Yuffie made it towards the lip of the bridge and looked back over her shoulder with a wordless smile.

Riku, now facing completely forward, asked with genuine curiosity, "And you are?"

Yuffie ginned widely, white teeth reflecting off the moon.

"I am…the great ninja Yuffie!"


	2. Stuck

Stuck

2

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Riku didn't want to tell anybody--especially Kairi--that his wrist was sprained. If there was anything he hated more, it was when people overreacted to little things like a sprained wrist, a twisted ankle…a broken arm…and Kairi was always the first one to blow the biggest gasket. Sora was sometimes known to blow things a little out of proportion too, but he wasn't as bad as Kairi. Or his mother. He'd be surprised if they didn't freak out over the tiny cut he'd gotten on his cheek last night.

It's a good thing neither of them were as observant as the girl he'd met last night, Yuffie, for even in the dark she knew about the condition of his wrist as soon as he'd injured it. Looking back on it Riku realized just how short his encounter with her was. The feeling of standing there motionless as he watched her retreating back caused an unexpected reaction in his chest. A very…unpleasant reaction. There was a certain urgency that nagged him to follow after her, but the better part of him kept his feet planted firmly in one spot.

Riku had never dreamed that someone might actually come to the island at night; well, not so late at least. To no one's knowledge, Riku often climbed from his room during the late hours of the night and sailed his boat to the small island some distance off shore. It was always absurdly difficult getting to sleep at night, and when the restlessness just about threatened to kill him, he found himself sneaking away to get some thinking space. And no space proved better than his little island right at the end of the bridge.

Meditating as usual and soaking up the tranquility of night, Riku was not deaf to the shouting on the other end of the island. At first he thought it might be one of the usual kids, the ones that frequently came the island, but there was something off about this person's voice. It was…unfamiliar and…happy.

When he discovered that whoever it was had made their way to his side of the island, and it was indeed no one he'd ever seen before, Riku quickly hid at the base of the platform, keeping a close grip on the latter which was attached to its side for those who accidentally fell into the ocean without an immediate route leading back to dry land. Usually Riku wouldn't just attack somebody without asking questions, but he could all too clearly make out the shape of a weapon on the person's back.

And the risk of being attacked was one he was not about to take.

Riku had no idea he was actually attacking a girl, and even more surprised at her swift and feline-like reflexes. When she'd kicked him it felt like a motorcycle had collided with his stomach, and the sound of her…whatever it is she was fighting with, sounded as if it would have cut his head off if it'd come any closer.

When the moonlight spilled upon the scenery, Riku's expression matched exactly hers, wide eyed and horrified, and when the tip of his wooden sword dug into her abdomen he was the absolutely terrified. Because not only did he just inflict the first non-practiced, painful blow of his entire life, but on a young female!

Needless to say, it was irking to have someone the same age as he repeatedly call him "kid," but to have the girl rolling on the floor LHFAO at his toy sword was more than a _little _embarrassing.

It didn't take long either, to figure out there was something strange about this girl. She was so…different. The fact that she was carrying a large authentic crossblade on her back with which she was undoubtedly trained in using was an obvious factor in her abnormality, but there was something else about her that seemed out of place. This questionable factor kept his mind stuck on her, struggling with the desire to see her once more. Or more accurately, the desire to obtain information.

But he was confident that they would meet again. Somehow or another. Because he had something that belonged to her. A golden charm in the shape of a star. He'd found it on his way back to his boat the previous night, buried in the sand, and he was certain she'd find out it was missing and come looking for it. And when she had searched everywhere, teetering on the brink of insanity, she would come looking for him. All he had to do was wait.

"Riku?" called a bubbly male voice. "Rikuuuu! Hello!"

"What, Sora?" Riku asked, pressing for patience. The second thing he hated most was having people interrupt his thoughts.

"Class is over, y'know. Ended a whole three minutes ago. Are you trying to be late for PE?"

Riku examined the clock on the far wall.

Ah, he was right. The geometry teacher had tucked his lesson plans away and was already swiping the blackboard clean--erasing the notes Riku should have taken during class.

"What's up, Riku?" asked Sora, innocently curious as usual. "It's not like you to zone out like that. Usually_ I'm _he one missing all the notes." To make a show of it, Sora plopped his notebook on Riku's desk and flipped to a page with a bunch of lines and illegible letters scrawled on it, including today's date. Riku grabbed Sora's notebook and tucked it under his arm.

"I'll just borrow this, then," he said smoothly.

"Uh--well, you can if you want, but they aren't very good notes."

"Don't worry, I'll make them good notes."

Riku prepared to leave his seat and absentmindedly put the wrong hand on the desk's edge to lift himself up. The result was an electrifying surge of pain that shot through his wrist and up his entire arm. "Godda--!" he bit his bottom lip to keep from following through with the curse. It took all of his inner strength not to make a grab for his wrist, so instead Riku clenched his left hand into a dangerously tight fist. He turned to the side so Sora wouldn't see the veins nearly bulging out of his arm.

"What? What's the matter?" Sora exclaimed, thoroughly alarmed.

Riku sucked in a breath, waiting for the pain to dull before answering. "I…stubbed my toe on the desk," he lied, gritting his teeth.

"Oh really? I didn't hear you hit the table--does it hurt?"

"No…it's fine. Come on, lets go to gym."

Riku stalked his way past Sora, cradling his right hand, and made it halfway out the door before something important crossed his mind. Turning to the geometry teacher, Mr. Cliff, he asked quickly, "Mr. Cliff, is there a new student coming to the school?"

The teacher finished erasing the last fragments of a chalk line and said, "New student? No, I don't think so. But then again, they never tell the teachers anything so I wouldn't know."

"Alright, thanks."

Sora stared after Riku with a raised eyebrow, then hauled his textbooks more comfortably under his arm before scuttling after his friend.

Riku certainly enjoyed his solitude, but regrettably, he rarely ever had any. Girls followed him absolutely everywhere he went, not to mention he always had Kairi and Sora tagging along after him. Not to be misunderstood, he loved girls and he loved his friends, but a guy's gotta have a break now and then.

Riku was not ignorant to the fact that he was…well developed for a teen his age, not to mention his face wasn't bad to look at either, and his voice was like bait on a fishhook, but sometimes he wished a he looked a little more like Sora. Again, not to be misunderstood. Girls liked Sora too; his adorable nature drew girls in from every corner of the school, but at least they didn't ogle, stalk, and sexually harass him every minute of the day.

He even caught Selphie undressing him with her eyes from time to time, which did not go unnoticed by Tidus, so not only did he have to deal with a constant stream of frighteningly persistent females, but also a chronically hostile male.

And as it were, the only girl who did not cast eyes on him was the only girl whom he wanted to.

_Kairi_

More often than not he found himself whispering her name in his head, chanting it repeatedly, weaving it into a song, and even aloud sometimes when he wasn't paying attention. Riku's eyes had been on Kairi ever since they were six years old when she first moved to the island. Ever since then his affections for the girl had been growing at a swift and frightening rate.

Her velvety red hair, remarkable blue eyes, that kind smile…The slenderness of her waist, the smoothness of her skin, the inviting shape of her lips…everything about her drew him closer, encouraging his fantasies, daydreams, and urges, but she was oblivious to all of this. The only thing she ever looked at was Sora.

Sora this, Sora that, she was in love with the boy, that much was obvious, but this was something they were both oblivious to. Sora too, saw Kairi the same way Riku did, but such things made little sense to him and he could not act on that which he did not understand. That should have given Riku the upper hand, but any efforts he made to get closer to Kairi went ignored, unnoticed, and unreturned.

_Why? _he often wondered. Why did things have to be that way? Why couldn't she just love him and be done with it? Why couldn't she want him the way he wanted her? Sora never looked at her the way he did, never watched over her the way he did, notice when she was sadder than she was the day before, notice when her scent switched with her choice of shampoo that morning, or appreciate the woman she was blossoming into right in front of his eyes. So _why?_

Maybe it was the way they looked at each other, the way they submerged themselves in their own impenetrable world, the way they shared secrets behind his back, that flared his desires to escape…be free of this place. The glowing sand, the fresh skies, the lush trees…he hated it.

All of it.

Often Riku would stare out across the ocean, his mind miles, continents, worlds away, exploring distant lands, meeting new people, learning new skills…

But sooner or later reality would creep up on him, reminding him cruelly of the limitations of his abilities and his sights which always ended abruptly at the sea's horizon.

"Riku," a sultry voice called. "Are you gonna go or what?"

Again, reality slapped him in the face, dragging him back to the present and into the depths of a pair of stunning emerald eyes.

"Oh, hey Quistis," Riku greeted, effortlessly forcing a smile.

"Here, take the bow. See if you can beat me. If you do, I'll give you a prize."

Quistis was the top archer in the state, and a force to be reckoned with when competing for the top score. Or a man. Busty, Brainy, and Bitchy, this chick was as far opposite from Kairi as one could get, and so, sadly, not his type. Sometimes Riku imagined her in high heels with a whip in her hand--the image fit so perfectly that it was almost scary.

The class was practicing archery in the courtyard and targets were set up in perfect alignment, ranging from least to most difficult. Riku, Sora, Quistis, and a girl named Yukari were the only ones at this particular target--it was the most difficult one-- while every other target consisted of lines ranging from six to seven people.

"How about the better the mark the better the prize?" Riku offered with an attractive grin. He could practically feel Sora's eyes rolling inside his head from behind them. Yukari sighed impatiently and tapped her foot noisily against the ground. Quistis smiled covetously, licking the top row of her teeth.

"Oh no you don't, you've got to do better than me or you won't get anything."

Riku chuckled and pulled the arrow back on the string.

_Always got to play hard to get, doesn't she? _he thought humorously.

Normally Riku would have readily taken her up on that challenge, confident of his abilities, but his wrist kept his cockiness at a minimum level.

He had to shoot with his left hand today, and even just holding the bow was painful enough to make him want to pass his turn to someone else.

But being Riku, he only mashed his lips over his gritted teeth and prepared to hit the mark. Or not.

Staring through the narrowed slits of his eyes, Riku honed in on the bullzeye from which Quistis's arrow protruded from, and readied himself for the release of the arrow.

And just as his fingers opened up to let the arrow fly, a flash of white teeth twinkled in the distance, and he looked up to see a very familiar acquaintance waving at him enthusiastically.

This startled Riku so terribly that his hand tilted at just the wrong moment and the arrow went flying into the sky, well past the target.

Riku's heart slammed against his chest with horror when he saw his arrow zoom toward the thicket of trees which Yuffie was hiding in, about to pierce her skull, but she tilted to the side with alarming speed and snatched it out of the air with her hand. She shook her head with an amused smile playing on her lips.

"What the heck was that?" Yukari exclaimed, bewildered by such a horrendous shot. "I've never seen you shoot like that before, Riku."

"Yeah, what happened Riku?" Sora's voice interrupted.

"Heeeey, you didn't do that on purpose, did you?" That was Quistis, sounding annoyingly peeved.

"One of those days, huh?" came the deep, muscular voice of the gym teacher Mr. Nooj. "Well, go and get it. The rest of you hold tight till he finds the arrow. We don't need one of you slipping up and making the same mistake while he's out there in the striking distance."

Riku darted toward the thicket leaving behind a whining Yukari, an exasperated Sora, and a skeptical Quistis.

"You know, I think there's something wrong with him," said Quistis when Riku was out of earshot. "I think his wrist is broken or something."

Riku wasted no time scanning the trees for the ebony haired ninja. "Hey!" he whispered into the trees, receding deeper into the woods and out of sight of the class. Yuffie had switched locations, it seemed, for she was no longer in the tree he'd spotted her in. When had she moved? Riku was certain he never took her eyes off her…

"Over here, stud," came a fluty, mocking voice. Riku looked up immediately and saw the young ninja leaning against a tree, perched on a low branch with a hand tucked behind her head and the arrow in the other. She offered it to him, shaking the point up and down.

"What are you doing here?" Riku demanded icily. "I mean--" shaking his head roughly, he smoothed out his tone and looked at Yuffie with eyes that leaked regret. He was afraid he might chase her away if he was too rude…

"You really need to learn how to talk to ladies," commented Yuffie, undisturbed by his unfriendliness. She retreated the arrow, scratching her temple with the point of it. "But then again, you talk to them just fine, don't you?" she grinned widely, inclining her head in the direction of the class. More specifically, toward Quistis.

"How did you find me?" Riku asked gently, edging foreword.

"Oh, and what makes you think I was looking for you?"

"You weren't?"

"No I was, I'm just saying."

Riku sighed patiently and said, "Well, what is it that you want?" Of course he already knew, but he thought it better to play innocent.

"Yeeeaaaaahhh, you see, I'm sort of…stuck," she answered.

_What? _That wasn't anywhere near the response he was expecting. "Stuck? In the tree?" Riku imagined winding his arm around her enticing waist, leveling her down slowly to the ground.

Yuffie raised an eyebrow at him as if he were an idiot.

"NO. I mean I'm stuck _here_." She spread her arms about, waving the point of the arrow back and forth. Riku still didn't understand. "On this…place--this _island_."

Involuntarily, Riku's mouth parted to form an inaudible "O." He understood right away. She, this ninja who was so obviously not from here, had wound up on this island somehow and was now trapped without any means or directions of how to get home. How…ironic. This _was_ his home and yet he felt just as trapped as she was. Maybe he could help her out more than he thought…and vice versa.

"You aren't from here," Riku said solemnly.

"Obviously." Yuffie took the point of the arrow and began picking at her nails.

"Then--"

"This arrow isn't sharp at all. How can you kill people with such dull equipment?"

"These arrows _aren't_ for killing people."

"Then what are they good for? Aren't you guys supposed to be training? It's better to use authentic weaponry."

"We aren't training. Especially to kill people."

"Fiends than?"

"What? No--"

"Monsters."

"N--_look_, we're just shooting targets, okay? There's nothing complicated or special about it."

"What is it with this island and your baby toys?"

Riku was starting to lose patience now, and retaining his cool disposition was becoming increasingly difficult. What was _wrong_ with this girl? Was she for real? Training? Monsters? What the hell was a fiend? "Where did you go last night after we separated?" asked Riku, circling back to square one.

Yuffie sighed and placed her hands behind her head, leaning casually against the tree with the arrow still in her grasp. "Um…well, to be honest, I never left the island. The little one. I kind of just…wandered around for a long time. I'm still tired. In fact, I'm surprised I'm not dead from swimming my way over here to the main island this morning."

This surprised Riku as well. He'd only ever swam to the private island once in his life, then back again, purely for training purposes, and it was the most strenuous thing he'd ever done. If he wasn't captain and MVP of the swim team, he might not have made it. And to think she had done so without any sleep…

"Did you see me leave the island?" asked Riku carefully. _More specifically, did you see me pick up the charm?_

"I saw you board your boat and that's it. I wasn't really paying attention to you; I was busy trying to find my own way off the island."

"I see," he said, unexpectedly disappointed. "And now you're stuck on the main island?"

Obviously hating to admit she needed help, Yuffie only nodded, a grimace plain on her face. Riku assumed it must be difficult for a ninja to request assistance of any kind at any time, even if they were self proclaimed…which it kind of seemed like she was.

"I can help you," Riku said smugly, even though he had no idea how. But that wasn't really an issue at the moment. Being stuck was not something Riku was good at, and he _wouldn't _be stuck on this island for ever. "But you have to help me too."

Yuffie barked a single, fluty laugh. "And if I refuse?"

"Then you won't get _this_ back." Riku plucked the golden star from inside his gym shorts and held it firmly in view. Yuffie gasped, dropping her cocky persona for the first time in front of him, and searched her pockets hurriedly before confirming that the charm was actually hers.

"How did you get that? It belongs to me! Return it!"

Riku enjoyed her reaction very much--it restored some of his confidence back to it's former glory. Usually he didn't bait girls this way, but you know, whatever worked. "First things first," he said. "You don't have a place to stay, do you?"


	3. Cookies

Cookies

3

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Yuffie couldn't very well say "Give it back, you thief!" since she's the one that stole it in the first place, so she swallowed the words back inside her throat. The boy, that arrogant son of a wretch, walked off with _her_ charm leaving her with something like, "You don't have place to stay, do you? Meet me after school and we'll make arrangements for you stay at my place."

Was he serious? Where was his decency? Yuffie was a girl, a woman, a _female_. Did he always go around inviting random women into his home? Sure he was good looking and everything, but she didn't have time for this! She needed to hurry back home. Soon. Now. As fast as possible. And not just because she wanted to exchange the charm in the black market or anything…A ninja has things to do!

Yuffie, however, did see some problems with refusing his invitation. While she was stuck there, on that wretched uncharted sand clot, she had no place to stay. Granted, a ninja was adept to sleeping anywhere under any condition at any time, but circumstances were different. She had absolutely no idea where she was, who these people were, how she'd gotten there, which plants were poisonous and which weren't (she'd never been to a native island before) or even what day of the week it was! Not to mention the boy had her "lucky charm" and she needed all the information she could about her surroundings.

Yuffie supposed _any_ condition really meant _any_ condition, so if she had to spend however much time with this boy than she would do it. Of course _violence_ was always an option, and one she had no qualms about, but trickery and deceit had always been more her style. _If it comes down to it_, she thought, _I might have to break his knees. But maybe there's another solution. I wouldn't feel right breaking the joints of someone who uses a wooden toy sword in combat…_

All day Yuffie had been keeping a sharp ear out, riding every sense at its peak in case the baby-toy-lover came sneaking up behind her at any point. How could she have allowed this to happen? Not only did she let some stranger move in on her treasure, but now she was paranoid of him? When had she become such a disgrace?

Oh, well…no matter. The enemy was inviting her into his quarters, unarmed an untrained. This was going to be simple. The only tricky part would be getting the information about how to escape the island while stealing the charm (and possibly food) at the same time without anyone being the wiser. The only thing she had on her at the moment was her Oritsuru and a small bottle of healing elixer, her last one, and by no means was she about to waste that unless it was absolutely necessary.

While shifting through numerous plans, Yuffie waited in the trees behind the courtyard for Riku to come out of the building. Maybe she would attack him then, take her treasure back, then run off to find her own way off the island. The idea continued to sound better and better until a bell rang and an impossibly large flock of children came storming out of the building like wild sheep. Yuffie muttered a harsh curse and scanned the crowd for Baby-toy-lover.

Locating him was not especially difficult. Though the crowd was clustered and blindingly colorful, he was the only one with silver hair and a smirk on his face. Not to mention he was one of the first kids out of the building. Coincidence?

But there were two other pipsqueaks following him. A boy and a girl. The boy had spiky brown hair that covered part of his face and came together in the back of his head like the shape of an onion. He had eyes that were innocent and blue and a smile that could knock out a satellite. The girl was very petite and very skinny with similar blue eyes, short velvety red hair, and a delicate poise that singled her out from the rest of the females.

Yuffie noticed all of them were exceptionally thin with bright blue eyes. Were they related or was that just some kind of genetic thing on the island? Not only that, but they all looked…nice. Like, that scary, too-good-to-be-true nice. Was that part of their genetics too? Yuffie hoped the boy wouldn't bring them along with him. She was used to assholes, not…non-assholes. It was a good thing Riku had some fire to him or else she might have let him get away with taking her things. Wait…no…that's a lie. That would have just made it easier to take back. The only thing that would've suffered is her conscience, and it's not like it would have killed her.

It was an expected relief when Riku waved good-bye to the two kids and began making his way over to her. With every step he took the question _should I attack now? _kept popping up in Yuffie's head. She imagined that her eyes were betraying her intentions, so she hoped Riku didn't notice anything.

But he did.

"Did you wait long?" he asked, crushing each syllable with a velvety finish.

Yuffie's resolution faltered a little. Uh-oh.

"A ninja never waits long," she said, lacking more confidence than intended. "We have an unlimited amount of impatience to accomplish any mission." That, of course, was a complete and total lie in her case. Yuffie had the patience of a child, and if answered honestly, she would say she _had _waited a long time for him. A cruel, ungodly amount of time--five hours--but she showed no signs agitation.

"Is that so?" Riku said. "Well anyway, I've called my mom and she wants to meet you. I'm pretty sure she'll allow you to stay, but only if you behave yourself like a Good. Little. Girl."

Her resolution flared again.

"I should kick you in the ass."

"You'd have to get to it first." Riku turned his rump to the side and waved it twice in her direction.

"I wouldn't give me a clear shot if I were you," Yuffie seethed with deadened rage.

Riku chuckled smugly and smoothed his bangs back with his good hand. The gesture indicated a trademark cliché pretty-boy move which Yuffie, by now, was wholly immune to. She'd seen it done before. Numerous times.

"I told Sora and Kairi I had a swim meet today, so we only have a little time to get this done before they start looking for me," Riku explained.

"Sora and Kairi? Is that what their names are?" Yuffie asked, referring to the boy and girl.

"Yeah, and they're my best friends. I might introduce you to them one day."

"You make it sound like we'll be together for more than one day."

"Who knows, maybe we will. It all depends on how long it takes you to give me what I want."

Yuffie's mind immediately took a dive into the worst of possibilities. "And what is it you want?" she asked skeptically.

"Exactly what you want. A way off this island."

There was just no making sense of this boy. Yuffie thought all pretty boys were the same, and to some extent they were, but this one in particular was just confusing. A way off the island? Was he serious? Why would a little innocent islander like himself want to leave his home? Maybe it was a trick…no. Somehow Yuffie couldn't see that.

There was a certain fierceness in his eyes that burned with sincerity. He really did want to leave the island, Yuffie could tell. Call it a ninja's intuition. One instinctively knows who their enemies are and who they can trust when given the right kind of experience.

"Whatever…" Yuffie scoffed. She'd have to shift her plans around a little, but it wasn't like his desires really mattered. Neither was it any of her concern or priority. The only person's desires that mattered at all were HERS.

Baby-toy-lover insisted Yuffie leave her weapons somewhere safe while they walked to his house (since a girl with a giant Oritsuru Cross on her back would draw too much attention) but she violently refused. A ninja never abandons her weapons! Under any circumstances! _Not to mention the thing was ungodly expensive…_she added mentally.

Instead, Yuffie glided inconspicuously through the trees while following Riku. He was just fine with this, considering she promised to make sure she wasn't seen by anybody. And that was just fine with her. She always enjoyed putting her skills to the test.

When finally they reached his house, which was two stories high, cottage-like, and very inviting, Riku said, "Alright look, here are some basic rules you need to follow. Don't try to attack anybody or break anything, always keep up a friendly attitude, use words like "please" and "thank you," and above all, let me do all the talking."

"Whatever it is you wish, Slavedriver-sama!" Yuffie exclaimed with a perky voice and black stars in her eyes. Riku cringed and backed away half a step. Yuffie was really sick and tired of his controlling, bossy, holier than thou attitude, but for now she decided she would just have to bite her tongue. Really really hard.

"And I guess you can keep your…that thing on your back. Just tell my mom it's a toy or something. She'll believe it. My friends and I bring stuff like that all the time so she won't question it. Probably."

"Does this _look_ like a baby toy?" Yuffie exclaimed, half offended. Did he know the kind of beasts that had fallen to her Oritsuru? Some even the size of houses! How dare he insult a ninja's weapon!

Riku rolled his eyes and sighed. "Look, I couldn't care less what it looks like; we're just trying to get my mother to approve your stay. So as of right now, _yes_, it looks like a baby toy."

Just then, a tall and slender silver haired woman opened the door. "I thought I heard someone talking out here," she said with a grin. "I knew you were out here Riku." Yuffie gaped a little, stricken by the woman's intense beauty. Never before had she seen someone like this. Her face was thin and delicate and her skin was as smooth and flawless as a quilt of peachy flower petals. Her lips were full and pulpous while her hair hung down to her waist, flaring out into thin silver spikes like a flurry of icicles.

She was so obviously her son's mother that at first Yuffie nearly mistook them to be twins.

"Oh my, oh my, and is this the young lady in question?" Riku's mother raised an eyebrow at the peculiar ninja, a smile tugging at her lips, clearly entertained by Yuffie's expression.

"Yup yup, this is her," Riku said in a voice that was so unlike his own that it snapped Yuffie out of her trance.

"Well don't just stand outside whispering to each other--come in, come in!" Without waiting for the two children to make a move, the woman rushed behind them and ushered both into the house, palms to their backs.

_The…friendliness! _Yuffie cried inwardly. _Too…strong!_

"U-um…this isn't real by the way. I-It's a toy," Yuffie said stupidly. What she actually meant to say was "Nice to meet you!" but screwed up. Riku laughed from beside her and shook his head, silver spikes gliding around his head as if they were weightless.

"Hopefully not!" Riku's mother exclaimed, pleasantly amused. "Hold on, I'm baking in the kitchen. I made tea too; just sit tight and I'll be right back." With smooth, feminine strides she went into the kitchen, leaving Riku and Yuffie sitting side by side on the couch in the living room. Across from them was a loveseat they were expecting Riku's mother to take when she came back.

"Has your mother always been…"

"So overbearingly friendly? Yes. Trust me, if that wasn't the case than this probably wouldn't work. I'm confident she'll approve."

Yuffie, staring at the kitchen's entrance, smiled softly and said, "You have her face." Riku looked genuinely surprised at her serenity, the gentleness in her eyes. The smile she wore was not only for the likeness, but for herself as well. Riku wondered what she could be thinking about…

"Yeah," he said unconsciously, "there are few differences between us. I tell you it's not easy having someone mistake your mother to be your sister all the time. Aside from gender and attitude we're pretty much the same person."

"No…no, not really," Yuffie noted thoughtfully." Riku looked directly at her, interest plain on his face. "Your aura's are different, y'know? Hers is like a soft glow, bright and warm. Yours is…a bit wilder. And darker. Somewhat chilly, too."

"Chilly?" he repeated, raising one eyebrow in sarcasm.

"Trust me, a ninja is sensitive to these things," Yuffie responded, wide eyed and innocent.

For a while the two of them said nothing, only listened to the comforting sounds of dishes being moved around in the kitchen, then Yuffie heard Riku whisper--more to himself than her--"Yeah…I'm just different that way."

His mother cheerily entered the room with a tray of steaming cookies and three cups of peppermint tea, breaking through the morbid atmosphere that had descended upon the two of them. She set the tray down quietly and placed a cup of tea in front of each of them, taking a cup for herself afterward and leaning against the loveseat with attentive eyes. She took one sip of her tea and said, "Okay, tell me the deal. I'm all ears."

"Okay mom," Riku started, again in that voice that was unlike his own. "My friend is in trouble. Yuffie. She's new in town and she doesn't have a place to stay. She's in her last year of high school and already she's been forced out of her house to live alone. Her and her mother aren't really on good terms, and for right now she's pretty much…stranded. Will you help her--_us_--please, mom?"

Yuffie didn't like the scenario he'd made up. Forced out of her home? Stranded? That was only true for traitors. And ninjas were killed if they ever committed treason. Sometimes they were even tortured. But for now, she supposed she would have to play the role of a heart-broken daughter who'd been wronged by her mother. To further the effect of the lie, Yuffie lowered her head and creased her forehead in feigned shame.

_Exactly how long, _Yuffie wondered, _did it take him to come up with this crap? _

Riku's mother considered the ebony haired ninja carefully, keeping a smooth face so as not to discomfort the girl with her skepticism. Yuffie pretended to have a tough time looking the woman in the eyes, and when finally she made visual contact with her, Riku's mother let out a soft thoughtful "Hm…"

"And where is your mother now?" she asked Yuffie gently. Riku stiffened, but Yuffie didn't even flinch.

_Dead_, was Yuffie's first thought, but instead she said, "Far off the island. Really far. As in, I couldn't possibly get to her unless I had a ship or some kind of air craft. It's a place called…Wutai."

Riku relaxed, but his attention was equally as sharp as his mother's. The curiosity in his eyes burned like wildfire, though he tried to contain it for the sake of emotional authenticity. It wouldn't seem right if he looked as if he were hearing this information for the first time.

"Wutai? Interesting…I've never heard of it," Riku's mother said. "And where is your father?"

"Dead," Yuffie answered without thought. Why try to hide it? It was as good an answer as any…especially since it wasn't a lie. Riku's eyes widened a fraction of a centimeter while his mother looked apologetic.

"I'm very sorry to hear that, sweetie," she said in that comforting, motherly voice. "Riku's father is away working clear across the country. Seldom do we see him, and Riku doesn't have any siblings. I'm sure it effects my son indefinitely, though I'm sure its nothing compared to losing one's father…"

The vibes Riku were giving off did not get past Yuffie; she could feel every negative wave. It was more than obvious that he did not want his life story laid out in front of a stranger. Yuffie didn't blame him at all, but it was still interesting to know. She wondered for a moment what his father was like. Was he anything like his son? Vice versa?

The woman asked Yuffie a few more questions that were received with a few quick but believable lies, and in the end she finally gave the approval.

"You can stay here, alright honey? But only long enough for you to find a better place to stay. It's not really proper, you know…for a young woman to be living under the same roof with a young man. And to be perfectly honest dear, I don't really know you all that well. "

Riku's flushed a bit, and turned his head clear away from Yuffie. She, however, was not perturbed in the least. Obviously anyone would think the same. Perhaps Riku was more…innocent than he seemed.

"But for now I'll trust you, since Riku seems to be willing enough to ask for your stay. And I love and trust my son more than anyone else in world; he's never let me down and I _know_ he wouldn't disappoint me." She gave Riku a severe look as she emphasized the word, and he nodded in response. "Alright then," she said, suddenly perky again. "You two eat those cookies while I get your room fixed up." She hopped pleasantly out of her seat and ruffled the tops of both their heads before heading upstairs.

Riku wasn't sure of what to say, but Yuffie reached toward the cookie tray and picked out the biggest, tastiest one she could find, though they all looked particularly tasty. She took a bite and smiled. "Mmm…cookies."


	4. Con

Con

4

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Just as Riku promised, Sora and Kairi came looking for him. At around 5:00 or 5:30, Sora called and asked if he wanted to hang out on the island until dinner. Riku knew if he refused he'd have to lie to his friends sooner or later and give them an explanation as to why he couldn't go. Phone pressing against his ear, he stole a glance at the girl still sitting on the living room couch stuffing cookies into her mouth as if she were a child. Not that he actually had room to make judgments; he did the same thing when he was certain nobody was looking. His mother's cookies were that good.

Riku shifted his form so that he was completely inside the kitchen and away from view of the living room. "Yeah," he said into the receiver. "I can make it. Do you want to split now or later?"

"Now would be good," replied Sora. "Kairi's gran expects her to be at dinner "promptly" at eight, so we wouldn't have a lot of time otherwise."

So Kairi was there with him? Of course she'd go to his house first and ask. Riku couldn't help but wonder if she was disappointed that Sora invited him. "Alright, I'll meet you guys there. Oh and by the way…" Riku leaned back to look into the living room to look at Yuffie who had just finished her last cookie. Or rather, _the_ last cookie. "I'm bringing a friend with me."

"A friend? Who?" Sora asked, immensely curious.

"Surprise." And before he hung up, Riku heard a familiar voice in the background whine, "Sora!" causing him to clack the phone back into place with exponentially more force than intended. Riku ground the back of his teeth together, pressing his lips tightly into place, and stalked into the living room.

"Hey, ninja girl," Riku addressed rudely, "we're--"

"Going to go meet your friends on the island," she finished.

"Uh--yeah. How did--"

"Oh please, I can hear every word you say in there. You were only a few yards away. Plus, it's not exactly common that anything gets passed my excellent hearing." Yuffie stretched far into the air, arms pointing to the sky, then fell back on the couch with her eyes closed.

"Well aren't you making yourself comfortable?"

Yuffie yawned and said, "Do we have to go? I don't really feel like it. You kept me waiting so long today…"

"I thought you said a ninja never waits long?" Riku turned the corner of his mouth up in a half smirk.

"Yeeeaaah, but it was _hot_." Yuffie turned over to the side and buried her face into the couch's arm, already looking as if she were asleep.

"Oh no you don't! You're coming." Riku took a step foreword, jabbing his foot into the carpet.

"Blahhh blahblah blahblahhhh." Yuffie yawned once more and wrapped her arms comfortably around herself.

"My ass," Riku muttered, then snatched Yuffie by her waist and hoisted her up over his broad shoulder.

"What the he--Hey! Hey!! Have you lost you're--"

"Mom!" Riku called upstairs. "I'm going to the island with Sora and Kairi! Yuffie's coming too!"

"You psycho-lunatic! Put me down!" Yuffie cried violently. She clutched his back, holding on for dear life, but Riku had a firm enough grip.

"Okay, babe!" Riku's mother called from upstairs. "Have fun!"

Riku carried Yuffie, who was thrashing and shouting threats, through the front door and down the cobblestone road to the beachside. Luckily it wasn't far away. When he reached his boat that was docked under a wooden bridge, he pulled it out with Yuffie still on his back and lowered her into it.

"You're insane," Yuffie huffed, crossing her arms. Riku settled into the boat next to her and pushed off shore with one of his oars. The two of them sat in silence for a few minutes, watching the main land island get smaller and smaller, until Yuffie became nauseous and started slumping over the side of the boat. In order to distract herself from the ascending bile, she started playing a private game, counting each fish that passed underwater. While she was busy deciding whether or not to catch one, Riku interrupted her by saying, "A little romantic isn't it?"

Yuffie turned to him with a very funny expression and responded, "Oh yeah, let me tell you. There's nothing I find more romantic than riding on a cramped boat, just short of vomiting, with a strange baby-toy-lover who's trying to con me into getting him a free ticket off a cramped island. Not to mention forcing me to meet a bunch of strangers who I have absolutely _no _interest in meeting."

"Yeah, romantic isn't it?"

When Riku docked his boat at the small bridge on the western side of the island, Yuffie leaped onto it, stretching gratefully. "Oh please, it wasn't that long a boat ride." Riku rolled his eyes and tossed the oar into the boat, jumping up alongside Yuffie.

"Nyeeeeeeh," she groaned, stretching hard.

Riku spied Sora on the beach along with Wakka and Kairi. It seemed as if Wakka was showing Sora the best way to throw a blitz ball with the greatest amount of power under the most control. Riku already knew how from just watching Wakka during their sparring matches, but Sora would have to have a little more help extended to him.

Wakka spied him--or them--first, just as he was in the middle of throwing his right arm back, demonstrating the proper way to spike. "Hey, Riku!" he called, breaking his pose and waving. Sora, who was following Wakka's demonstration, fumbled and dropped the blitz ball. "Who's you're friend, ya?"

Kairi noticed a fraction of a second before Sora did, and they both turned to look at Yuffie with curious eyes. She, however, continued stretching her limbs as if no one else was around. As Wakka made his way over to them, quickly followed by Kairi and Sora, Riku whispered to Yuffie, "Alright, just try to seem normal. You're a traveling cousin of mine who came to stay on the island for a while. That's you're story. And remember, that weapon of yours is still a toy."

"Whatever," she shrugged and lit a bright smile for the crowd.

"Hey, my name's Wakka," he introduced, pounding a fist to his chest proudly. "Nice to meet ya!"

"I'm Sora!" he greeted enthusiastically, holding out an eager hand. Yuffie took it with matched eagerness, giving it an impressive grip. Sora hardly noticed, for his hand was much larger than hers and his grip was always strong.

"Hiya!" Yuffie returned.

"Um, I'm Kairi," Kairi said with a welcoming smile. She placed a hand behind her back and waved shyly with the other one.

"This is my cousin Yuffie," Riku introduced before Yuffie could say anything stupid. "She's staying with me and my mom for a while so I thought I would introduce her to you guys."

"I didn't know you had a cousin," Kairi said.

"Oh, everybody has a cousin," Riku returned, waving a dismissive hand in the air. "She's a few times removed, I think, but either way this is her first time ever on the island."

"Welcome to Destiny Island!" Sora greeted, friendly as always. "You'll have fun here, I know it. The people here are really great."

Yuffie grinned and asked eagerly, "Can they fight?"

"You bet! And just so you know, I'm not half bad myself." Sora grazed the side of his nose with his thumb, a confident smile on his face. Count on Sora to think nothing strange of such a strange question. Usually a newcommer's first words--especially a girl--wouldn't be something like 'Can they fight?'

Nobody but Riku noticed when Kairi drew back a little, edging away from the crowd. It may have been his overactive imagination, but it seemed to him as if Kairi was purposely distancing herself from Yuffie. But not out of shyness. There was something about Yuffie _and_ Sora together that caused her to react that way. Riku knew, because it was the exact same feeling he was getting. But…that wasn't right.

Yuffie bounded off the bridge and onto the soft sand, surprising Kairi enough to make her to draw back at a farther distance.

"I'll have you know," Yuffie claimed zealously, "that I am a top ranking ninja! Best in the country!"

Riku put his head in his hand and sighed.

"Ninja? Really?" Sora exclaimed.

Riku shook his head.

"Yup!"

"A real one?" Kairi asked innocently.

_Kairi! _Riku cried in his head. _C-mon! _

"Well, show us some moves, ya!" _Wakka too!_

"Sure!"

Riku sighed again and looked towards the sky in vain. _She's got everybody…_

Yuffie pulled out her cross and spread her feet apart. "Well, somebody charge me!"

Wakka was the only one who had his weapon on him right now--the blitz ball--and so he was the first to challenge her. Not to mention he's the one that asked to see some moves anyway. Kairi and Sora ran to the base of the cliff near the waterfall was so they wouldn't get in the way. Sora was exhilarated to see someone new show their stuff, and Kairi was having fun watching Sora's excitement.

Surrendering, Riku walked over to the both of them and stood next to Kairi.

"I can't believe you actually brought someone to the island, Riku," Kairi noted with surprise.

"Yeah, usually you don't like newbies," Sora agreed.

"Well, she's my cousin," Riku lied, giving them his signature one-armed shrug. "She's welcome, right?"

"Yeah, the more the merrier!" Sora nodded his head energetically. Kairi mimicked his action, but with less vigor. Conversation came to a halt as Wakka and Yuffie commenced with the sparring match. Riku made sure to pay extra close attention, for he had never actually seen Yuffie in battle before. Sure he had fought her, but in the near pitch dark. It would be interesting to see if she could really live up to her title. Who knows? She _could _be a real ninja…

Yuffie twirled the Cross in one hand, ready to thrust it at any moment. Wakka pulled his arm back like a lever and hurled the blitz ball foreword with impressive might. Yuffie put his efforts to shame by effortlessly kicking the ball high in the air, following up with a choreographically displayed kick to the ball upon its descend, spiking it towards Wakka's head. But Wakka caught the ball with a backwards spin, diminishing some of it's powerful impact, and rolled to the side just as Yuffie's Oritsuru sliced through the air in his direction.

Riku flinched. _What if she accidentally kills him…? _he thought in horror. Riku stood there debating on whether or not to stop the match, but he was far too intrigued to follow through. Yuffie's moves were indeed something to see. He watched her spring into the air, deflecting each attack after another, while simultaneously throwing and catching her own weapon. The slender shape of her body intensified each move, sharpening his focus with every single action.

The smile she wore on her face was blatant indication that she was having the time of her life. And not only did she love to fight, it seemed, but she also loved to put on a show. Riku guessed that she'd perform better in front of a crowd when given the opportunity.

When Riku looked over at Sora, he could see that the fascination he held was triple his own. Even though Sora was no match for him, not to mention a sore loser, he never stopped observing. Sora was a kid that never backed down from a challenge and never stopped trying. It was apparent that Sora would try his absolute hardest to make friends with this girl no matter what, especially after this fight.

When Riku switched to Kairi, he was alarmed by the abrupt transition in expressions. Kairi wasn't focused on the fight at all, but on Sora. She could see how happy and excited he was to be observing this new fighter…this new girl. Her smile was small and slight, but her eyes were burning with jealousy. Even her eyebrows were a little drawn together, giving her face a tint of sadness. Riku was not sympathetic to her feelings.

_So what if he finds a new girl interesting? _Riku thought harshly. _Does that mean you have to wallow in some kind of pathetic depression? _When Riku caught himself glaring, he turned towards the fight with a great sense of guilt washing over him.

"A good fight, ya?" Wakka panted, arched over with his hands on his knees.

_What? The fight is over already? _Riku thought in surprise. _I missed the whole thing!_

"C'mon, done already?" Yuffie whined. "Oh well, I'm still impressed. I never knew a ball could be a used as a weapon, but you sure proved me wrong!" She wasn't nearly as tired as Wakka--hardly broke a sweat, in fact--but the radiance presented in her glowing expression was indication that she had enjoyed herself.

"Anyone else?" Yuffie winked at the group of three standing on the sidelines. "Come on, I got plenty of spunk left!"

Just as Sora was stupidly about to rush foreword, Riku interrupted. For Kairi's sake. "No, not right now," he said, using his superior tone. "I think you should probably meet the rest of the islanders first. Sora, are the others here?"

Sora, recovering from maximum disappointment, answered, "Yeah, I think they're on the other side of the island."

"Alright, Yuffie, lets go meet em'." Riku swooped his hand in a forwarding motion, indicating she follow along, and walked towards the shack on the eastern side of the island.

"Um, Sora," Riku heard Kairi say, but Sora cut her off by shouting after them. "Wait up, guys! I'm coming too!" Over the padding of his shoes on the sand he called behind him for Kairi and Wakka to follow. They did. No one but Riku heard the faint sigh that sounded, and everything in him urged his advancing steps to come to a stop to wait for the others. Or rather, for Kairi, since he knew she was the slowest one and would not be able to keep up.

But he didn't. For now, while she was completely absorbed in Sora, Riku decided he would use this to this advantage to make Kairi realize just how wrong for her Sora actually was.


	5. Obvious

Obvious

5

//------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------//

Yuffie was never really good with names despite being a ninja, so she made an effort to refrain from using them. There were two more people on the island, Ti-Tee-Something with a T, and Selpha. Or Selaphie. Selpie. Whatever. The girl in yellow. The only kids' names she did remember were Riku (of course), Sora, and Kairi. And the only reason Yuffie remembered Kairi's name was because her love for Sora was so blindly obvious that it practically seared her pupils. But Yuffie got the inkling suspicion that the brown-haired one, Sora, had no idea at all.

Well, in any case, the remaining two children on the other side of the island put up pretty pathetic fights. Actually, only the boy accepted her challenge, and he was fairly okay. Not particularly impressive. Compared to Riku's stamina and endurance, the boys' efforts were almost embarrassing. Yuffie had seen the girl training with the boy upon arrival, and she didn't even look the least bit challenging. Had she accepted the challenge Yuffie might have wound up killing her.

Riku, Sora, Kairi, and Wakka were sitting on a slanted ledge by a group of palm trees watching Yuffie and the boy spar. Yuffie caught quick glimpses of Riku only to find him continuously staring at her without relent. It made Yuffie a little uncomfortable…was he really that interested?

"Tidus, give it a rest will ya?" the girl in yellow called during the match. _Ah okay, so his name is Tidus _Yuffie noted mentally. _Tidus… _"I wanna talk to Yuffie some more!"

Yuffie's ear twitched a little. Had she heard correctly? Another girl actually wanted to talk to her? Being a ninja and everything, Yuffie didn't have too many friends, so this was something that caused a very unexpected feeling inside her. She even agreed to break the match.

"Um…yeah, you put up a great fight kid--I mean Tidus. Be proud. Besides, I'm kind of tired too." That was a lie, but the boy looked like he needed a break anyways. Tidus groaned an "AWWWW!" but acceeded.

After the match, Yuffie and Tidus went to join the rest of the group. "You're amazing!" exclaimed the perky girl. Selphie. That was her name. "Oh yeah, and you were okay too, Tidus."

"Gee, thanks…" he breathed, slouched over in exhaustion.

The group gave their little chuckles, but to Yuffie Riku only seemed to smile in order to appease the crowd. He sure knew how to play his part, didn't he?

"So Yuffie," Selphie broke in, "tell me where you came from. It's really exciting having another girl on the island." Yuffie relayed the story she'd presented for Riku's mother, including all the other lies. It was funny to Yuffie how interested they all seemed. But…she did enjoy their eager faces. _It's a shame, _Yuffie thought, _that more people can't be like them. _

As night fell, Selphie eagerly proposed they light a bonfire in celebration of Yuffie's spectacular arrival. It was nothing like Yuffie had ever experienced. It was so…friendly…and warm…and nice. Fun too. Often, when Yuffie was traveling in the woods, she'd light a small fire and sit there by herself. Alone. Maybe cook a mushroom or a fish or something and call it dinner, and find someplace primitive to sleep. No one smiling anywhere. No one laughing anywhere.

_I…have to leave this place _Yuffie thought. _I have to leave as soon as possible. _

When dinner time came, Sora rode with Kairi to the main island, hoping that her grandma wouldn't be upset because they were a little late. Sora came back though, probably because he didn't want to miss out on anything.

Before Yuffie knew it, everyone had dispersed, wandering off to different parts of the shore. Selphie and Tidus walked over to the small dock on the western side of the island where Riku's boat was docked, and Riku himself disappeared to his little isle on the opposite end. Sora kept company Yuffie by the bonfire, urging her to continue with more stories of the _outside_.

"So you've really never been here?' Sora asked, leaning back on his hands.

"Nope."

"Do you like it here? It's great, isn't it?"

"It's…actually very nice. Very quiet," Yuffie replied gently.

"Yeah, quiet's nice. But it can be boring too."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. A person needs action every now and then, y'know?" she clenched her fist eagerly to make emphasis.

"Exactly! That's why everyone on the island is always sparring," explained Sora with vigor. "If we didn't there would be no reason to come here!"

"Yeah, but Riku seems to…dislike the island." Yuffie turned the corner of her mouth down the instance the words slipped from her mouth. That was an accident. She didn't mean to bring Riku into the conversation. What did his interests matter to her?

But Sora considered her statement and looked thoughtfully at the bonfire.

"Yeah…you get that feeling too?" he said. "Riku…he's not really like he used to be. I feel like he doesn't enjoy being here anymore. Like everything around him annoys him or something. I don't exactly know how to describe it."

Yuffie knew exactly how to describe it. Riku wanted to escape. Get away. Or maybe…escape wasn't the right word. Maybe…

"Sora!" Tidus called from across the beach. "C'mere!"

"Oh, uh--I'll be right back." Sora jumped to his feet and jogged over to Tidus and Selphie, leaving Yuffie alone to bask in the suddenly lonely light of the bonfire. She looked over to where Riku sat, staring across the dark ocean. The way he perched himself on the tree made it seem like he was somewhere far away--consumed with his own thoughts. Suddenly eager to be on her feet, Yuffie leapt up and quietly made her way over to Riku.

When she got there it looked like Riku hadn't detected her at all. He was deafly still, still staring ahead of him. Yuffie stood behind him for what seemed like ages studying his back, trying to decide whether or not to just walk away. Just as she pivoted in the opposite direction he spoke.

"Did you get lonely that quickly?" he asked gently. Yuffie did not miss the slight mockery in his tone. "Sora would have come back, y'know."

"Don't insult me," Yuffie huffed.

Riku chuckled and said, "Oh, my apologies, Great Ninja Yuffie."

"You're such an--"

"--Ass?"

"Hole."

Riku threw his head back toward the stars and laughed. He laughed good and hard, then let the sound die away in the air, taking in the rapturous silence that followed. Yuffie, never being one for silence, moseyed her way over to him and sat at the base of the tree. Neither of them looked at one another when they spoke. "Why do you always distance yourself from the crowd?" Yuffie asked quietly.

"Hmm…" Riku mumbled thoughtfully.

"Are you allergic to them or something?"

"Does it seem that way to you?" His tone wasn't offended, only slightly amused.

"Sort of. No offense, but it seems like you have to force yourself to be around them."

"Perceptive," Riku said, not bothering to deny anything. "Some days more than others, but they're all fairly tolerable people."

"Too bad I can't say the same about you," Yuffie joked. Sort of. Riku snickered.

"You'd love me if you got to know me," he chuckled snidely.

"_If_ I wanted to know you. I don't plan on sticking around long enough to get to know more than you're name."

"You already know more than that."

"By no fault of my own. I just want my charm back."

"We made a deal. Don't be so hasty."

"Then lets hurry up ad settle it. If I stay in one place for too long I break out in hives."

"And God knows you don't need that."

"*Sigh!* You're such an ass--"

"--hole?"

The air was quiet for a split second before the two of them burst into wild laughter. "You know, we actually might be cousins," Yuffie commented.

"It seems more and more like it by the second, doesn't it?" Riku agreed with a smile. "Who else would act this stupid each other?"

"So tell me…" Yuffie said, her tone instantly serious, "what is it you hate about the island?"

Riku's smile died away, but returned with a small tug at his mouth. "Oh, I don't hate the island. I…well, no, I guess hate is a pretty good word. I suppose I just tolerate it for the people."

"Yeah, especially that Kairi chick."

This caught Riku's attention. He whirled his head on her, but she kept her eyes on the ocean. "What?" he whispered, his expression hard.

"Oh, come on. It's so obvious that you guys are in a love triangle. The sloppiest one I've ever seen, in fact. You love Kairi, Kairi loves Sora, and I'm not sure, but I think Sora loves her too."

Riku shot a glare at her. "No one loves anyone. Those two wouldn't know the first thing about love. We're just friends, okay?"

"To you're disappointment, right?"

"Tsk!" Riku ground the back of his teeth together and stiffened his shoulders. "So what are you gonna do now, start spreading rumors?" Riku's voice was steely, but very controlled.

"I said don't insult me. Do I seem like the type that would--wait, actually I kind of do. What I mean to say is that that's something only a stupid bratty kid whom has no life would do. Plus, it wouldn't benefit me in the very least."

"Indeed," was his apathetic response.

"Besides, there's something more important I should be doing. Or you should be doing," she added.

"And what's that?"

"Finding us a way off this fricking island."

Riku and Yuffie were the last ones to leave. Together they walked home in silence. It was about 9:00p.m when they walked through the door and Riku's mother was already waiting for them on the living room couch. "We're home," Riku said pleasantly to his mom. _Well obviously, _Yuffie thought.

"Welcome back, Riku. Yuffie, are you hungry?"

"Yeah, starved!" she exclaimed. Riku rolled his eyes and smiled.

"That's great! I made plenty of fried fish and stewed cabbage." Riku's Mom jumped up and nudged Yuffie in the arm with her elbow. "Stewed cabbage is the only vegetable Riku will eat. He's such a baby."

"You don't have to tell me. I know how he likes to play with baby toys."

"Mother!" Riku scolded.

She burst into laughter and strode into the kitchen to set their plates.

Yuffie was thankful for what table manners she'd acquired over the years. Just in case, she asked Riku's mom how she should eat the fish, restraining herself the whole time from tearing into the food like a wild animal.

After dinner Riku showed Yuffie to her room which was, coincidentally or not, directly next to his. He leaned against his open door frame while his mother told Yuffie about laundry, making her bed, and where to put all her clothes. She even slipped her a few bills to do some shopping later on when she had the time. The explanation seemed to wear his mom out, for she yawned tiredly and bid the two children good-night after everything was settled.

"You're mom is…so nice," Yuffie mumbled to Riku when his mother shut her room door.

"Yes. She's great, isn't she?" he smiled.

"It makes me…not want to be here."

Riku straightened himself up and tilted his head to the side. "Huh?"

"Oh, sorry! I didn't mean, well, you know--it's a personal thing. Look, I'm gonna go take a shower and go to bed. I'm tired. If I wake up tomorrow with bags under my eyes I'm coming after you," Yuffie threatened seriously and bolted inside her room, shutting the door behind her without a second glance.

Riku brushed the bangs out of his eyes and stared at the closed doorway. He smiled and shrugged before heading quietly in his own room, discreetly gripping the small golden star inside his pants pocket.


	6. LiarXTwo

(Liar) x (Two)

6

//-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------//

For Riku, getting to sleep was something that always proved unusually difficult, but for the most part it was achievable. Never had he imagined before this night that it would be utterly impossible. For once Riku came across a situation that he didn't, and would never have, anticipated.

It was absolute torture hearing the sounds of Yuffie walking around, shifting through her things in the next room, taking a full shower, and patting her way back to the room across from his, her naked feet making soft noises against the carpet in the hallway.

Riku's face lit with embarrassment and shame. He tried with all his will power to control the image of her walking around in a towel, stumbling through the dark room for the lights, and when switched on, how her glistening wet skin would look in contrast to the fluffy white towel. She then would have to find suitable night attire to wear, thus removing the towel and…

Riku slammed the pillow over his face to muffle a groan. And to cover his flaming cheeks. He made an extra effort to block out any sounds Yuffie might be making in the next room that would urge his imagination at all foreword. _Sleep…please, for the love of God just go to bed already! _He cried inwardly. To himself or to Yuffie, he wasn't sure. It was a great relief when she finally went to bed and the noises in her room stopped, but even then did he find it difficult to close his eyes.

Shifting the pillow just far enough to uncover his ears, Riku strained his senses, suddenly desperate to hear a noise; a squeak of her mattress, a soft sigh, a yawn, a steady breath…

God, what was wrong with him? He was being pathetic. She was just a girl! A very pretty, slender, witty, feisty…NO! Just a girl! It's not like she was…Kairi or anything… Riku was humiliated to admit it, but in a way it kind of felt like he was…cheating on her. How utterly moronic.

When the light from the sun finally stole its way into his room from beyond a tiny gap in his curtains, Riku sighed heavily. He was more grateful for daylight then he had ever been in his life, but at the same time he wasn't. His eyelids drooped with lethargy, as did his shoulders and the rest of his ligaments. He was dead tired.

Riku sat up and swung his legs over the edge of the bed. He sat still for a long while, almost thirty minutes, refusing to move until he heard something--anything--in the room next to his. When a whole forty five minutes had passed and 6:00 came around, Riku forced himself to his feet and stretched his arms.

Normally the first thing Riku would have done was grab his towel and head toward the bathroom, but this time he only went out the door. The second out-of-routine thing he did was veer to the left of the hallway instead of to the right where the shower was located. Without knocking--or even thinking about knocking--Riku opened the door to Yuffie's room.

His eyes widened.

No one was there.

All lethargy was suddenly washed from him. He was wide awake now. "Yuffie?" he tried to call, but it came out as a course whisper. "Yuffie!" he called again more clearly. He looked everywhere around the room but it was empty. Panic roughly gripped his chest. Riku was never one to panic, so the feeling was doubled for him, and the force of it left him almost breathless.

"Yuff--"

"What are you yelling about so early in the morning?" came a muffled voice.

Riku's head whipped around and he saw Yuffie standing in the hall, dressed in a black t-shirt too large for her with a pair of small grey shorts peeking out from underneath. In her hand she had a small breakfast wrap and a thin bottle of iced tea. She had the wrap hanging out of her mouth while she unscrewed the lid on the bottle.

"There you are," Riku said, letting his relief slip. Accidentally.

"Obviously." Yuffie bit off a piece and chewed for a quick second before guzzling some iced tea. As she was fastening the top back on she quirked an eyebrow at him and said, "Any particular reason why you're in my room in nothing but your boxers?"

Riku gave himself a quick overview. He rolled his eyes at her--to hide his embarrassment--and said with a sarcastic edge, "Well obviously I just woke up. And you weren't in your room so I figured you'd have split during the night or something."

"Well, I won't deny that I thought of doing just that…but I knew I would be hungry in the morning. Your mom makes a mean breakfast toquito." She took another bite. "And did you even knock when you went in? Because I know I didn't leave the door open."

"Of course I did," he lied.

"…."

"…."

"You liar! Pervert! What if I was getting dressed? Do you just walk in on your mom like that?"

Riku couldn't keep his cheeks from flaring to that one. "Of course not!"

"Double liar! You have, haven't you?!"

"N--Why do we always get into stupid arguments like this?!"

"Because you do stupid things like _this_!"

"I'm going to take a shower!" Riku stormed out of the room and violently entered his room, stalking out half a second later with a towel draped over his arm. He didn't even look in Yuffie's direction before going into the bathroom. Right before he slammed the door, Riku heard a soft chuckle sound from his mother's doorway. _Way to add to my embarrassment, Mom. Just heat up some pizza and set the video camera why don't you?_

Riku leaned against the bathroom door and dropped his head into his hand. He slumped his other arm to his side and let the towel fall to the floor. _Damn girl. Is she trying to make me look like a fool? Exactly what kind of girl is she? Who does the things she does?_

Riku didn't try to mull over it, lest he valued his sanity, and twisted the shower knobs with hi good hand. He made sure to keep the water cool for the sake of his injured wrist. After washing up quickly he dressed in his room. All the while he was listening to the voices floating from downstairs; a small conversation of murmurs between Yuffie and his mother. With every word or so being comprehensible, Riku loosely picked up the gist that they were talking about running a shopping errand in town. His name came up too, and he figured his mother would send both Yuffie and himself to do some food shopping. They'd been running low as of late.

"Oh, Riku, there you are," his mother called when she caught him walking downstairs. "I--"

"Yeah, I know. Just give me the money and I'll get everything we need."

"Oh my! Isn't he just the sweetest thing?" she squealed at Yuffie. "And so smart!"

Yuffie beamed in response, but when his mother turned to give him the money she switched on a sour look and shook her head. Riku smirked.

"Yuffie, let's go," he commanded, jerking his head in a foreword motion.

"But you haven't eaten yet," his mother protested. "I didn't mean for you to leave right away!"

"It's fine. I can easily get something on the way. Yuffie."

"Coming," she seethed.

Riku smirked at Yuffie, for he knew she was using every bit of strength she had not to say something in front of his mother. He figured she wasn't one to take a seat to something like that. Riku resumed smiling all the way out the door until Yuffie finally went off.

"You are such a bastard. What the hell makes you think you can issue commands like that? Like I'm some kind of dog?"

"The other girls don't have a problem with it."

"That's probably because they're a bunch of morons who only take a back seat to your attitude because they think you're cute."

"So I guess that means you think I'm cute too?" His grin widened from ear to ear. By this time they'd made it to the outskirts of the town square's outdoor market.

"Bastards aren't cute."

"Yeah, you're right. They're _sexy_."

"Ugh! You're right. How _do_ we get into these stupid arguments?" She threw her hands up in the air and spun away, arms crossed. Riku laughed out loud and a few girls walking by turned in his direction.

"Oh, Riku!" one of them shouted.

"Quistis." Riku greeted. Skipping alongside her friend, a slender girl with long black hair approached Riku as well, both of them wearing luscious smiles.

"And Rinoa. It's been a long time since we talked."

"Hiiiiii Riku," Rinoa beamed happily.

Yuffie rolled her eyes. Riku guessed exactly what she was thinking. _Oh, these must be the morons in question. _He had to keep from grinning. Because if indeed that's what she was thinking, then she was absolutely right.

"How come you never invite us over to the island?" Quistis whined. "That _is _where you're going later on today, right?"

"Yeah, I'm going there."

"With Sora and Kairi?" Rinona added.

"Yeah, and _her_." Riku jerked his head to the girl who was so indiscreetly trying to weasel her way elsewhere.

_Goddammit. _She seethed with her eyes. _You just have to be a bastard, don't you?_

Riku smiled.

"Who's she?" Quistis asked with a perkiness that was so obviously forced that Yuffie couldn't help but feel offended. Right away Riku could tell they didn't like each other. Ah, chicks. Rinoa, however, just stood beside him, noticeably trying to close some distance between the two of them while pretending to observe the scene.

"I'm--"

"She's my cousin," Riku intervened before Yuffie could say anything foolish. Again.

"You have a cousin?" Quistis inquired. She didn't sound convinced, unlike Kairi who just sounded surprised.

"Wouldn't you know it." Riku shrugged his shoulders and flashed an irresistible smile. Rinoa moved an inch closer. "Reeeeaally? She doesn't look a thing like you," she pointed out.

"Oh thank God," Yuffie breathed, genuinely relieved, but purposely over dramatic. Rinoa giggled, but Quistis just stretched one side of her mouth upward in unconcealed skepticism. Her eyes prodded Yuffie relentlessly, looking at her with blatant disapproval.

"If you keep that look for too long your face will stick like that," Yuffie noted.

Quistis drew back a little, stricken with surprise. "W-What?"

"That's what my parents used to tell me when I made ugly faces at them after they told me to go to bed." She smirked beautifully.

"Why would you say that? I wasn't making a face."

"And they said other things when I lied."

"You're so rude!"

"Oh, thank you!"

Riku felt like he should step between them, but there was something about two girls fighting that warned him to stay away…some kind of male instinct, perhaps?

"Stop it, guys!" Rinoa--thank God--butted in. "Quistis, you were so glaring at her. Just let it go, alright?"

"Who's side are you on?" Quistis snapped at her. Rinoa made a small pout and said, "Come ooon, this isn't a fight Quistis. We just wanted to talk to Riku."

"Are you stupid? I _was_ talking to Riku, but she--"

"Enough," Yuffie interrupted suddenly, her voice hard. All three of them turned to stare at her. "Look, I'm sorry. I was being a bitch. Forgive me, but I just have this nasty habit of picking fights. You shouldn't be mean to your friend because of it. It's stupid that we should be like this when we only just met each other. And besides, your Riku's friend--it seems--and I should be nicer to you. So, hi," Yuffie extended an open hand. "My name is Yuffie Kisaragi. I'm Riku's cousin."

Riku had to keep from gaping. Yuffie is actually mature? Since when? When he glanced over he also saw that Quistis was equally surprised. The way Yuffie approached it made it utterly impossible for her to rebuke, and she found herself unconsciously taking Yuffie's hand. Yuffie gave it several friendly shakes and pulled away. "Um…" Quistis murmured. "Nice to meet you." After a few more exchanges with Riku, Quistis took Rinoa and left.

When the two girls were far enough away Riku commented, "That was very mature of you."

I hate her," Yuffie said smiling. It was a very…frightening smile. So insanely care-free. Riku cringed when she directed it at him. "But I looooove you, Riku." Riku cleared his throat and ran his eyes about the market. "Oh look," he said raggedly. "They're having a sale on bread."


	7. Elixir

Elixir

7

//--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------//

It was less of a chore this time, dragging Yuffie to the island, but unfortunately that didn't mean she was spared of complaints. Riku was getting used to it though, and only set his mind to a mild hum to tune it out. He was very good at things like that. When they reached shore, Riku was less than surprised to see Sora and Kairi flirting around with each other. Or rather, Kairi was flirting around with an oblivious Sora. Riku couldn't have felt any more pissed off if Sora was the one doing it.

"If you make that face for to long it'll stay that way," Yuffie commented, leaping upon the small dock.

"What are you talking about?" Riku tossed the oars aside and got to his feet to dock the boat. He sounded less than friendly.

"You're scowling," Yuffie pointed out.

"Am not," he replied, just short of a growl.

"Yes, you are. I know you're not about to tell me. I think I'd have a better idea than you since you can't even see your own face at the moment."

"Bite it," he muttered harshly.

"Must be Kairi, huh?"

"Bite it hard."

Yuffie sighed and placed her fists on her hip. "Riku, look--"

"YUFFIE!"

"AHH!"

Sora came up from behind, startling her, and Yuffie stumbled backwards off port.

"Yuffie!" Riku cried, reaching out to grab her.

Kairi gasped from a distance and Yuffie, unprepared to hit the ground, threw her arms out to grasp the nearest thing which was, of course, Sora. He, in return, cupped his hands, ready to catch her, and she landed safely in the shape of his arms.

"Ah--I'm so sorry, Yuffie! Are you okay?" he cried frantically. From his expression you could tell that he really was, and his unnecessary tight hold on her was extended proof. Yuffie let out a sigh of relief, and turned her head to his chest to hide her embarrassment at having been caught off guard so easily.

"F-Fine," she replied, voice high. A loud thump on the sand in front of them caught their attention. Riku had leapt off port onto the sand with purposely inflicted force. He did not look happy.

"Get off her." Not happy at all.

"Riku--" Sora started to say.

"I said get off her!" He thrust his hand out and grabbed Yuffie by the arm, pulling her away from Sora, and shoved her behind him. All of them, Kairi included, were at a loss for words, stricken with shock. Riku never got mad about anything ever, never lost his cool, and definitely never yelled. Especially at his friends. What had just happened?

Riku, however, had not realized his actions. He was still fuming, veins corded in his neck, eyes wide and alert. His chest heaved up and down with emphasis, his hand still holding a firm grip on Yuffie's. His mind was thick with hatred for his best friend, for Sora, and somewhere submerged in his cloud of thought he realized how out-of-whack and irrational his reaction was, but adrenalin kept him from calming.

It was Sora holding Yuffie in his undeserving arms that triggered something in Riku. He knew yet not why, but the anger he felt at that moment was something far beyond the jealousies he felt over Kairi, and that made no sense.

All he knew was that he wanted to kill Sora.

"R-Riku…" Sora whispered nervously. The look on his face was past guilt, and when Riku finally registered it he drew back a step, bumping into Yuffie, and he whirled to her as if he'd forgotten she was there. Or that he was still gripping her arm like a railing on a rollercoaster. He let go immediately. When he did he realized how much his wrist hurt, and noticed he'd grabbed with the wrong hand. He rocked it gently and bowed his head toward the ground.

"Sorry," he muttered and stormed off toward the paopu isle. Nobody followed him.

"What's the matter with him?" Kairi asked worriedly. "Did something happen?"

"No, not that I know of," Yuffie said in a wonder. "He's been…relatively fine. Heheh, it must be those late teenage hormones kicking in. I bet he though he was exempt."

Riku made sure to send out every negative vibe he could to ward off anyone who might come too close. Especially Yuffie. There was no way he could ever explain what an ass he'd just made of himself, thus, there was no way he could look her in the face. Sora or Kairi he might be able to handle, but not Yuffie. Definitely not her. He only imagined what she could be thinking of him right now…

Exactly what had come over him? Had he gone mad? Never had he yelled at anyone like that before--especially his best friend. So why now? Riku sat and thought hard, and when finally he'd come up with an explanation, he wondered if it was really the right one.

What he'd come up with was this: The way he reacted as he did was because of Kairi. For years Riku had been tormented with the growth of Kairi and Sora's relationship, standing agonizingly still on the sidelines while Sora effortlessly charmed the girl he loved. He'd been slowly building a hatred for Sora that was composed of nothing but adolescent jealousies.

And then Yuffie showed up. He didn't love her, but in a way he still managed to think of her as his, as a toy he'd found first. And when Yuffie had met Sora for the first time Riku could see how they bonded. It was instantaneous, and again it was like being forced to watch another episode like the last one. Yes, surely that was the reason. It was pathetic of him, to be sure, but at least he could incorporate some sense into this explanation. It was easier to avoid headaches that way.

Riku unwillingly turned to the shore, thinking that everyone would still be there, but the only people he saw were Sora and Kairi. They sat at the edge of the port, talking softly with one another. Every now and then one of them would make a fleeting glance in his direction, but for the most part they kept their eyes away from him. He guessed his behavior had really been that bad.

But where was Yuffie? Riku jumped to his feet with alarm. Had she left? She had the perfect opportunity. That would be a disaster. She couldn't leave before he got the chance to apologize. Riku pivoted in the opposite direction and ran out of site before Sora and Kairi had time to see and convey what the cause for alarm was. The last thing he needed was them getting too far involved.

Luckily for Riku, the two left within ten minutes and went over to the other side of the island when they found he was no longer by the tree. Perhaps they were looking for him? No matter. Irrelevant.

Riku took the chance to make his way over to the port since they left, and was very relieved to find all three boats docked, his included. Riku looked everywhere for Yuffie, but she was nowhere. Maybe she was on the other side where Sora and Kairi were. Before he went to go check, he decided he would first go inside the secret cave by the small waterfall. It was very possible that she might have found it.

Normally Riku avoided that place as much as he could. Kairi and Sora had sullied the entire interior with their sickening toddler drawings of each other. And only pictures of each other. He was nowhere. Why go to a place that constantly reminded you that the person whom you loved clearly preferred another?

But Riku set his emotions aside and entered the cave. He was taller than Kairi and Sora, so once he got inside he had to crouch as he walked through the tunnel. Once he reached the end he was surprised to actually find someone there.

Yuffie.

She stood perfectly straight, arms crossed with her hip jutting slightly to the side. Her head tilted a small fraction as if she were studying something with intense curiosity, then she unfolded her arm and placed a hand to her hip, letting the other one hang. She was examining that strange wooden door that'd always been connected to the inner wall of the cave. Riku could never get it open, nor was he sure it was even a door, so he just always left it alone. The curiosity had since been dulled over the years, but every now and then it returned. Like it did now.

"What are you doing here?" Riku asked gently in the empty cavern. No need to make his voice any louder than a mouse's after today's behavior.

Yuffie remained silent, continuously staring at the door as if she hadn't heard him. This irked him. How was he to ignore the repulsive pictures on the wall if she wouldn't at least acknowledge his presence? "Is something wrong?"

"Riku, do you know what this is?" Yuffie asked intently. Usually Yuffie wasn't one to be so serious, so this caught Riku's firm attention.

"What do you mean?"

Yuffie shook her head and mumbled something so quietly under her breath that Riku hardly heard. He thought she said something along the lines of, "I can't believe it…here of all places."

"Yuffie, what is it?" Riku stepped closer and drew a hand out. Was she okay? She was acting weird. It didn't make him feel better that he couldn't see her face either. "Yuffie, turn around."

She did, and with a grin so wide you could practically count every indavidual white tooth. "You know, I bet you could make a pretty badass raft with this thing," she said enthusiastically.

"What?" Riku asked, bewildered.

"Yeah! Bust this door down, trim a few edges, add a few support boards, tie a few ends, and you'd be good to go. It'd be perfect for sailing out."

Riku blinked several times before responding. "Are you serious? Would that…really work? I mean, I've tried removing the door a bunch of times, but it just won't budge at all."

Yuffie made her way over to him and gave him a good hard pat on the shoulder. "Don't worry. If there was anyone in the Universe capable of breaking this thing down, it would be you. But remember, you can't properly make the raft unless you have this door, got it? Oh, and one more thing," Yuffie reached in her pocket and pulled out a small green bottle of strange liquid.

She took Riku's injured wrist delicately in her hand and poured the whole content over his injury. None of it dripped to the floor, but instead shaped around his wrist as if to caress it. The liquid glowed beautifully and smelled of potent, but sweet herbs. It felt incredibly warm and relaxing, soothing and all around fantastic. Every single throb of pain had evaporated, and as the liquid absorbed into his arm he could see his skin looked, as well as felt, brand new.

"You'll need every bit of strength you have if you have if you wanna get this done right." Yuffie licked the remainder of elixir from the inside of the empty bottle with her index finger and smoothed it over a small cut on Riku's cheek. "Now get to it."

**//**********************//A Note From Moi//**************************//**

**When you read, make sure to pay close attention. There are little Easter Eggs hidden all throughout this story in the form of hints, symbolisms, phrases, and elements that will show up again in future chapters. Nearly every single thing holds significance to the story, so make sure not to miss anything!**

**And to my fellow Otakus that have reviewed.**

**You're AWSOME and you make the world a better place. Please keep supporting me no matter what.**


	8. Hormones

Hormones

8

//---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------//

It'd been days since the idea had come up, but still Riku was weighing out the absurdities and the necessities of building a floating vessel by hand. A raft? Riku had never considered building a raft. Sure he'd thought of simply taking a boat to sail off the island, but where would he get one? His own small boat was nowhere near strong enough to sail out on it's own, not to mention it would be cramped with Yuffie there. He needed something bigger. Yes…a raft would do nicely. But it would have to be big.

And Yuffie might have been right about the door. It seemed to be made of strong enough wood. Even after all these years it still hadn't even acquired a chip in it. First thing Riku knew he had to do was learn how to construct a raft, however. Removing the door would have to come later. But surely everybody would figure out what he was up to once he started, so it was unlikely that he'd be able to hide it from Sora and the others.

Who knows, maybe they could come too? That was always the original plan anyway. If he left the island he'd want his friends to come and share the experience. And Yuffie would be there. The four of them would be together, so the raft had to be exceptionally large. Yes…the four of them.

The excitement shot through him, sending him into elation. The last time he'd felt such a spark in his chest was when the night sky had been ablaze with dozens of falling stars nine years ago. Surely the only feeling in existence that could possibly compare is that of freedom. He could feel it, closer than it had ever been in his life, and the possibility of being able to reach his eager hands out to grasp it thrust him into an uncontainable state of euphoria.

"Riku?" a meek and feminine voice addressed from behind. Riku closed his locker and turned to face Kairi. She stood there, arms behind her back, blue eyes staring into his, innocent and focused just as they were when she was six years old. Still so big and beautiful, those eyes…Kind of like Yuffie's, only hers were sharper, always elusive and yet always perceptive. Both an adult and child. Yuffie--

"Riku?" Kairi called again.

"Yeah, Kairi?" Riku said, a serene smile on his face. He couldn't help it. Whenever he said anything to her his face just wound up looking that way.

"Where's Yuffie?" she asked innocently. There was something in her voice that would have otherwise been undetectable to anyone who hadn't know her for years, but Riku couldn't decipher what it was. Nonetheless, it didn't effect his smile.

"Yuffie is at home, I think," he replied.

"Why? Isn't she staying with you? I thought for sure she'd be attending high school while she was here."

Riku nearly shuddered with horror. "Uh, no, I don't think that would be necessary. It remains to be seen how long she'll actually need to stay here, so as of the moment she's just, y'know…on vacation." He almost finished the sentence in a question, but caught himself at the last second.

"Oh," Kairi said. "But where is she now?"

"Home."

"Her home? She left already?"

"No, not…" _Di-did I make it sound that way? _Riku thought in surprise. _When did my home suddenly become her home? Am I really so used to… _"She's at my house, I mean. Probably sleeping, lazing about, breaking things--you know, all the things a cat would do. Scratching up the furniture…" _With her kunais…_

Kairi laughed musically. "That sounds a lot like something she would do, actually," she said beaming. "That and fighting. I've never met a girl who likes to fight as much as she does. Haha, it makes you wonder if she's even a girl at all sometimes, doesn't it? Kind of freakish." Riku's reaction was automatic. Immediately his eyes narrowed into thin slits, boring into Kairi's eyes with a glare so serious it made her cringe back. "U-um, no, I didn't mean…"

"Yuffie's just like the rest of us," Riku said patiently. Stoically. "There's nothing _freakish_ about her."

"Riku, I didn't mean to--I'm sorry. It was…a joke…"

"Ah, no…" Riku caught himself and put a hand over his eyes, thumb and index finger resting on his eyebrows. He gave his head one soft shake, causing some silver hair to fall in his eyes, and said apologetically, "I'm sorry Kairi, I'm just…I don't know--_protective _of her." _Really? _Inquired his inner voice. _As if someone like her needs protection._

"I-It's okay," stuttered Kairi. "I didn't mean to offend you or Yuffie. It's just something that sort of slipped out."

"Yeah, I guess." Riku gave a one armed shrug as if to brush the remark off, but inside he was clearly on edge. Still, for Kairi, he would be kind. "So where are you going now, English? I'll walk you there." No matter what, a gentleman must be a gentleman.

"Yes, but won't you be late to your class?"

"It's fine. Hey, if I am I'll just take it as punishment for being a jerk. And so," Riku held out his elbow for her, "shall I escort you, madam?"

"Yes, please." Kairi giggled and received his gesture, clinging tightly as he led her down the hall where resided a lineup of hostile and envious classmates.

School dragged on way too long for the rest of the day, thus putting Riku in a dangerous and unusually irritated mood. Each class, especially Trig, was torture, as he could not help but cast frequent glances at the clock on the wall who's second hand was moving far far too slow. Damn thing must be broken, because there is no way time could possibly be moving so slowly.

Trig was the last class of the day, and on this day Riku's class had taken a test. It was too easy for Riku, so he'd finished much earlier than everyone. Every day before a test Riku would study at home, memorizing everything that needed to be memorized, and though it proved to be more of a taxing job than usual since Yuffie was there bothering him the whole time, he still managed to answer every question on the test as if he'd memorized a cheat sheet.

When the bell finally rang, Riku all but catapulted out of his seat, and in doing so jostled his desk, causing his Trigonometry text book to spill off the edge. "Shit…" Riku swore under his breath (something he never did ever) and snatched the book off the ground with a forceful sweeping motion. In doing so a small note flew from inside and sailed across the room onto an empty desk.

What the hell? It wasn't his, he was sure. The piece of paper was folded too girlishly. When had someone put it there? Sure it was more than possible that anyone walking by during class might have slipped it in there when he wasn't paying attention. He'd rarely took his eyes off the clock all class period, but even so he was sure he'd have noticed. Seldom do things like that get by him so easily.

Riku waited impatiently for the remainder of class to empty out onto the other side of the room before making his way to the note. Quickly he seized it from its resting place and joined the rest of the eager students that were swiftly filing out into the hallway. He shoved the folded paper deep inside his pocket so as not to lose it--not that it really mattered since it was probably another childish love note from some insignificant smitten girl--and pushed his way through the crowd of students to toward the exit.

Usually he'd wait for Sora and Kairi to meet him by the exit, but today was different. Today he'd told Yuffie to come and wait for him outside in the courtyard when school had finished so they could elaborate on their situation together. Riku whipped his head around the courtyard the second he stepped foot outside the building. The courtyard was located at a different exit of the school, so there were less kids streaming out of the doors and less kids bound to notice and question Yuffie's appearance. Riku could only lie to so many people…

Riku was sure he'd spot Yuffie amongst the trees where he'd told her to wait, but no one was there. Agitated, he whirled in the opposite direction, thinking maybe Yuffie had mixed up the exits of the school, but noticed Tidus on the far side of the courtyard talking and laughing very animatedly with someone. A girl someone. A someone who wasn't Selphie. Yuffie.

Yuffie swung a slow punch at Tidus's head, which he dodged playfully and countered with an exact movement to her stomach. Yuffie caught him expertly by his fist and swung him around so that his back was to her and his arm was firm in her grip. Tidus looked like he was in pain, but laughed joyously as if he were having fun. Yuffie removed her grip on his arm and jumped up to grab him from behind in a headlock. In return, Tidus gripped Yuffie around her slender waist and started making fruitless jerks to the side in an effort to free himself. Yuffie laughed triumphantly into the air at his weak attempts, and finally released him all together. Tidus stumbled a bit, but looked up to toss Yuffie one of his exuberant smiles.

An uncalled tide of heated fury thrashed Riku like a wave. His eyes burst with uncontrollable rage and he clenched his hands together into tight fists, allowing his text book to slip from underneath his arm and fall noisily against the ground. This caught Yuffie's attention, and she turned in his direction to cast him a bright smile. Then she actually _looked _at him.

All joy and color drained from her face in half a second, now replaced by a look of confusion and bewilderment. When Riku saw this he drew back, shaking his head to the side, and rubbed his forehead vigorously with his hand. He didn't look up again until the red flash had dulled from his vision and his mind was once again cool. He unclenched his fist and reached down to pick up the book that had dropped to the ground.

When again he looked at Yuffie she was tilting her head to the side as would a curious child, and Tidus was steeling glances at both him and her as if he had no idea what was going on. Riku sighed and shook his head back and forth, walking over to the courtyard. Each step pierced his chest, as he knew each movement brought him closer to Yuffie. Which wouldn't have been so bad, except he knew he had just humiliated himself.

Again he had been overcome with unreasonable and vehement emotion. When had he begun to lose so much control over himself?

"Yuffie," greeted Riku. To Tidus he only gave a mere nod of his head. He dare not trust his own voice at the moment, especially when talking to this boy.

"Whut's up, Riku? Why're you out in the courtyard? I thought for sure you'd be waiting for Kairi and Sora up in the front."

"N--" _None of your business. _"I came here to meet Yuffie." Riku offered him a fickle smile, grinding the back of his teeth together in the process, but Tidus was well unaware of these irritated gestures.

"Oh, yeah, she did say something about that. Are you hanging out with him today, Yuffie?" Tidus turned to Yuffie and leaned back on his heels, crossing his arms together in a comforting fashion.

"Yeah, I am," Yuffie replied good-naturedly, "so we'd better get going. Right, Riku?" She nodded her head in his direction as if asking for approval. Riku confirmed with another nod, and grabbed Yuffie by her arm, pulling her away.

"Ah--oh, bye, Tidus!" Yuffie called, waving her free arm. "See you lat--" Riku jerked her foreword, almost roughly, causing her to falter a step, and Yuffie spun around to face him, a forceful glare shooting out of her eyes. Riku was unperturbed. He merely tightened his grip and continued walking at a fixed pace, staring ahead of him.

Halfway down the road Riku dropped Yuffie's arm, but he didn't apologize or look in her direction. Yuffie stretched one side of her mouth up in a stern and disapproving manner, waiting for him to say something, but no words surfaced. Yuffie matched step behind him, boring into the back of his skull, and when she was certain he definitely wasn't going to say anything, she stopped dead in her tracks and crossed her arms over her chest.

Riku took two more steps before coming to a stop himself. He didn't turn around, only sighed. He dropped his shoulders and bowed his head toward the ground, giving it a slight shake. "Yeah?" he said.

"You know Riku, I've been willing to chalk whatever it is that's wrong with you up to raging hormones, but lately that excuse has been ceasing to amuse me. I think you'd better tell me what your problem is."

"I don't have a problem," he replied calmly, shifting his trig book under the other arm.

"I think you do. Just tell me what it is that's bothering you. Come on, we can work it out. We're all adults here."

"Or at least one of us is," he said, turning slightly to the side with an amused smile on his lips.

"Bad time for jokes."

"It's never a bad time for jokes."

"Riku!"

"Look," he sighed once more, facing around. "I said I don't have a problem and I don't. Maybe you weren't far off. Maybe it really is…" he snickered, "_raging hormones_."

"Ugh, you're such a kid, Riku."

"This coming from you? Ouch, that stings."

"Oh, shut up."

Riku laughed softly and walked to her side. He took his arm and draped it over her small shoulders to lead her foreword. "Let's go. We're wasting time," he said smiling. "We have important things to talk about."

"Ah, so you've finally made your decision?" Yuffie asked mischievously.

Riku grinned, returning the expression. "As if there was ever anything to consider."


	9. First Mate

First Mate

9

//-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------//

"Do you think it's a good idea to invite Sora and Kairi along?" asked Yuffie, sliding a white cloth over her Oritsuru. Together she and Riku sat in the backyard, Yuffie lying comfortably in a hammock and Riku right beneath her, doing homework on the soft grass. "I don't see why not," Riku replied, mildly distracted by a math question. "They'd want to come. And besides, it's not like I can hide anything from them."

Yuffie drew the cloth away and held her Crossblade up to the sun, admiring the gleaming sparkle of it's sharp edges and steely skin. "They might blab to their parents, accidentally or not."

"I don't think they would." Riku scrawled an answer down on his paper and turned a page of the text book. "Though Sora might be little too excited at first."

Yuffie propped her weapon up against a tree and leaned back on the hammock with both hands behind her head, closing her eyes, allowing the gentle breeze to rock the hammock from side to side like a cradle. "I don't think Kairi would even come," she said nonchalantly.

"No, I definitely think she would. For one thing, Sora will be there," he hesitated for a second, as if surprised at how easily that came out, then continued, "and Kairi herself is from another world, or place, so I doubt she would pass up an opportunity to try and find her roots. Her grandmother never tells her anything."

Yuffie's eyes shot open, surprise uncontainable, but did not allow Riku to see her reaction.

Kairi was from another world?

"Kairi…wasn't born here?" Yuffie questioned.

Riku took a page of his text book and checked both sides of it, examining his answers, and said, "No, she wasn't. She came here when she was six years old, right in the middle of June. I remember the exact day because the night before there was a meteor shower; it was the first one Sora and I had ever seen. Trust me, that's not something so easily forgotten."

_Meteor shower… _Yuffie thought. "Is that so? Interesting. I've seen a few meteor showers myself. They're awesome." She nestled the back of her head more comfortably in her hands and turned slightly to the side, away from Riku.

"Oh, which reminds me," Riku shut his text book and placed it on his side, shifting his weight to his hand so that he could turn to face Yuffie cross-legged on the ground. "I've been meaning ask you this for a long time now, but somehow or another something always came up. Yuffie, exactly where is it that you come from?"

Yuffie shifted in the hammock and removed one hand from behind her head to lay it on her stomach. She stared at the brilliant blue sky, almost as if to avoid looking Riku directly in the eyes. "Actually you have asked me that before," she said, closing her eyes, mouth curving into a tiny smile.

"Yes, and as an answer you tried to beat the hell out of me." Riku leaned back on one hand and draped the other over his lap.

"Haha, look that was just for fun. I was never going to…you know, _kill _you. Not really, anyways."

"Not really, huh?" Riku raised an eyebrow at her sarcastically.

"Besides, you already know where I come from. Remember?"

"Wutai, I believe you called it."

"That's the place." There was a sadness in Yuffie's voice that was nearly undetectable, but hopefully Riku hadn't noticed. She doubted it, though. Bah.

"Then Wutai is real? You didn't just make that up?"

"Hey, even I had to be born somewhere, right? Yes, Wutai is a real place. It's my village back home." Home…it didn't sound right on her tongue. Briefly she considered her old empty house in Wutai and tried to stick the label of 'home' on it. No. It just didn't sound right. Not anymore.

"What's it like there--Wutai?" Riku looked as if her were trying to control the excitement and interest in his tone, but his exuberant expression betrayed his enthusiasm.

"Um…" Yuffie dallied for a second, dumbstruck by the question. Yuffie hardly ever thought of Wutai at all, because she was never really there. All the time she would just drop in for a few days, then leave on some adventure or expedition to acquire more treasure. In fact, it was more of a headquarters than a home; just a designated place of return when the end of one of her voyages came to a temporary end.

She never paid much attention to the residents of her village, either. They hated her there, because she'd taken something from just about everyone that lived there. Only a few people found her tolerable, but even they did not extend any effort to try and get to know her better or make friends. Again, not that she was there long enough to ever really make friends.

"It's really small in Wutai," Yuffie began. "It's not a big village, though the houses there are prettier than the ones here. It's a place that has it's own little style, y'know? Like you could go to any other town in the country and never find a place like it. It's lack of items and excitement, not to mention it's small stature, makes it an insignificant village, but whatever. Home is…where the heart is, I guess."

Yuffie wished she could give a better description than that, but Riku's eyes sparkled with intensity as if it was the most remarkable thing he'd ever heard. He was hanging on every word she said.

"And do you live there with anyone?" he asked gently.

"No, I don't. Just me, myself, and I. I've had to support myself for a long time, ever since I was a kid, because my parents, y'know…died."

Riku's smile dropped and his eyes softened. "That must have been really hard."

_It still is. _"Yeah, but I got used to it. A ninja's got a do what a ninja's got to do. No if's, and's, or but's."

"I don't believe that," Riku responded, but with caution. "You make it sound as if ninjas have no feelings, no choices in life except hard ones. What about you? You always seem happy and energetic--carefree and never lonely. But you are, right? I can see it in your eyes all the time. But lately you've been happier. Docile, even. Is that not human emotion?"

Once upon a time Yuffie's reaction might have been hostile, even violent, but that wasn't the case right now. Instead she was sullen, embarrassed even, and ashamed. Of herself. Yuffie sat up in the hammock and crossed her legs, folding her hands delicately over her lap. Her eyes did not stray from her fingers.

"I'm not really a ninja, in case you haven't noticed by now," she said morosely.

Riku's eyes widened in disbelief. Sure he must have known, but never had he ever imagined that she would actually admit it.

"I…" Yuffie swallowed, a tiny movement of her throat, and sighed. "I just claimed to be a ninja because…it was better than saying I was a thief. An orphaned child forced to steal in order to survive. Exactly where's the pride in that? Of course when I started saying I was a ninja no one believed me, so I had to learn to fight in order to prove my strength. I had to be the best at everything. I had to learn how to handle a weapon, I had to learn how to feed myself in the wilderness, I had to learn to live without family or friends, I had to learn how to patch a wound, I had to learn how to pick your enemies from your friends, I had to do all these things as only a young girl. Yes, I am happy, but mostly when I fight; I'm good at it. I love to fight. Because…it's the only time I ever feel like I'm worth something."

Yuffie wasn't looking at Riku, she couldn't, but in the corner of her eyes she could see him move. He edged closer to her, leaning his face foreword to meet her eyes. Yuffie knew she couldn't disgrace herself more by turning away, so she allowed his eyes to lock onto hers. His arms rested beside her on the hammock, his head hovering directly over her lap, facing upward.

"Yuffie," he whispered tenderly. "You are strong."

"No," she sighed. "Just good at covering my weaknesses."

"Weaknesses that any human being would have. Why be ashamed? The person you are right now, Yuffie, I like it. Very much."

Yuffie chuckled through a breath and put her palm gently to Riku's forehead. And pushed it away. She would be damned if anyone caught her blushing. "You know," she said, facing the complete opposite direction.

"What?" Riku challenged.

"There's only one other time when I feel like I'm worth something."

"Yeah? And when is that?"

"When I'm with you." She turned and smiled radiantly, a smile meant only for him.

"Yuffie…"

"Because when I insult you it feels like I'm doing great justice to the world."

Riku grabbed the edge of the hammock and flipped it completely upside down, causing Yuffie to tumble out and thump loudly against the ground. "Ow--Hey! You bastard!"

"Ahem, I am a _sexy_ bastard, don't forget," Riku said, standing straight up with his arms crossed. He wore a condescending smirk on his face; the one Yuffie hated. She grabbed his abandoned text book off the ground and chucked it at him, but he swiftly stepped to the side, avoiding it easily.

"When we finally set sail for a new world," Yuffie shouted, rising from the ground, "I am _so_ not making you my first mate!"


	10. Oh Snap!

Oh Snap!

10

//------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------//

Sora immediately jumped on the idea of making a raft. Riku knew he would. Even Kairi seemed enthusiastic. Yuffie was opposed to telling them at first but, after being swept up in Sora's excitement, questioned why she even felt that way in the first place. Riku was just as vigorous, but made an effort to conceal it, unlike Sora who was just short of doing backflips and summersaults off the cliff walls.

Together they collected logs, rope, and a sail. Riku even managed to get his mom's permission to raid his fathers old tool shed for supplies. From time to time Riku would stare at the wooden door hidden inside the small cave, perplexed, but never made a move to get it off, as he had no time for that at the moment.

One day, when he finally tried, he found it tremendously difficult to even find a firm place with which to grip and pull, let alone break the door down itself. He tried kicking it, which was an absolutely horrid idea (or so says his throbbing ankles), and he tried using a few tools, an old sickle and an axe, but nothing seemed to work. In fact, the solid edges of the equipment didn't even make a dent in the thick wood.

"Impossible," Riku muttered to Yuffie one day while they were having lunch together by the paopu tree. "Breaking that door down is impossible. Ah--no," he raised a hand as she was about to say something, "I know exactly what you're going to say and allow me to reiterate that it is IMPOSSIBLE. I don't know what the heck that thing is made of, but whatever it is it's been resistant to sickles, axes, and I'm beginning to think fire wouldn't even effect it in the least. Not saying that I would set the thing on _fire_...but in case curiosity got the better of me, I could imagine all too well of ineffective it would be."

Yuffie swallowed part of a rice ball and said, "Come on, Riku. It's just a door. Don't tell me that you're so weak as to not be able to break down a meager slab of wood."

"Hey, I don't see you lifting a finger to help. I can't believe you'd say it was possible when you haven't even tried." He sighed dejectedly. "I'm starting to think that whoever put that thing there made it of steel and just painted to look like a door to screw with people."

"If that's true than that's some durable paint."

"Yeah…you're right." Riku placed his bento box aside and leaned against the paopu tree, his hands comfortably tucked behind his head. "But you know, I bet we could do this without that stupid door. I mean, if it's that durable think of how heavy it must be. There's no way we'd be able to slice it up and use it for parts or anything. And even if we did manage to get it down, we might get in trouble. I'm sure someone put it there for a reason anyway, probably for safety measures, in which case it would be better if it just stayed where it was."

"Or maybe the door was always there."

"Pfft, yeah. Because I'm sure doors just grow like that."

"I never said it grew. I said maybe it was always there."

"Look, Yuffie, I'm trying to be serious here. I don't think getting that door down is a possibility. We should just forget about it."

Yuffie finished the contents of her lunch and set the container beside Riku's. She shook her head amusedly and replied, "No, you're wrong. You must get that door down if you plan to ever travel anywhere. Trust me on this."

Riku chuckled and shook his head at his lap, silver locks floating around his eyes. "And would that be your female or ninja intuition."

"Oh, shut up."

Riku laughed, a smile clear on his face. "I still stand by my statement."

Yuffie sprung to her feet then, causing Riku to jerk back in surprise, thinking she might have gotten angry.

"All right, that does it!" she cried.

"Wh-what?"

"You." She viciously jabbed a finger at him. "We're going to do some training right now! I'm sick of all your _"I can't do this" _and _"I can't do that" _NONSENSE! It's time you started acting like a man, you silver-haired pansy islander!"

"Oh what are you talking about?" Riku responded exasperatingly, jumping to his feet and settling on the paopu trunk. "I'm the most talented swordsman and or fighter on this whole entire island. Why would I need training?"

"You're not better than me," Yuffie remarked concededly. "By a long shot."

"I beg to differ," Riku smirked.

"You know I let you win last time," Yuffie said, returning the look.

"As if I needed your permission to win a fight. I'd kick your butt."

"Ooh, them's fightin' words!"

"Maybe they are." Riku leaned in toward her face, nose almost touching hers, and grinned devilishly.

"Then grab your weapon, baby-toy-extraordinaire, I'm so ready to shove your face into the dirt."

"Oh no you don't," Riku said lowly, and leaned back on the trunk. He gazed out toward the shore where Sora sat with Kairi and Tidus and called to him. "Sora! Come here for a second!"

Sora jumped to his feet, accidentally kicking up some sand in Tidus's face which he complained about loudly. Sora apologized hurriedly and sprinted over to the paopu plateau.

Sora didn't board the bridge that connected the isle to the shore, but instead moved beneath it, keeping just out of it's shadow cast by the sun, and called up to Riku. "What is it, Riku?"

Riku sprang off the paopu tree and directly onto the bridge where he leaned down and said to Sora, "I need to borrow your sword."

"Why, did something happen to yours?"

"Nah. What I mean to say is, Yuffie would like to borrow it. She says she wants to get her face shoved into the dirt."

"I said _your_ face into the dirt!" Yuffie cried from behind him.

Riku laughed and continued. "We're going to have a match."

"You are?" Sora beamed. "Can I join in?"

"Yeah, you can fight what's left of Yuffie after I rip her to shreds. Now go get your sword."

Sora obeyed, running off somewhere to retrieve it from wherever it is he'd left it, and Riku turned to Yuffie. "Ready?" he asked mischievously.

"Ugh, I can't believe you're making me fight with that thing," she commented, rolling her eyes. "In the extreme likely case I wind up breaking his sword, it's you who has to apologize to Sora."

Both Riku and Yuffie spread their feet apart, ready to spring into action. Sora, Tidus, and Kairi stood on the sidelines, eager for the match to commence. Again Kairi stared only at Sora, but this time Riku didn't pay any attention, neither did he care. All that mattered now was Yuffie.

"You can still surrender," Riku sneered sarcastically.

"As if I'd surrender to someone who can't even open a door," she sneered back.

Riku was first to move. His heels dug far into the sand before he launched himself foreword, sword held firmly in hand. Yuffie copied his vigor, rushing foreword with Sora's sword held just as tightly, but in a different position. Riku slashed his sword to the side, but Yuffie blocked it by tilting her sword down vertically, then reversed the tip, bringing it down at alarming speed toward his shoulder. Riku slid to the side in a circling motion with his feet, not only dodging the attack, but making his way toward an unguarded area on her left.

Yuffie reacted by thrusting her leg out horizontally, jabbing him in the stomach with sharp kick, and sent him flying backwards onto the soft sand. Riku manipulated his aerodynamics and landed on his hands and knees, sliding backwards on all fours, then sprang foreword again with another attack set firmly in mind. A number of slashes, blocks, and counter attacks were exchanged, a wonderfully executed display of swordsmanship and agility. One would almost think they were dancing with how naturally in sync their movements were, each attack reacting to the other as if every move hsd been planned out prior to the match.

After three minutes of this, Riku's body drastically began to tire. The heat from the sun had suddenly intensified, the air surrounding each of Yuffie's blows were centered in a haze, and his breaths were coming out too quickly and unevenly. Yuffie, though tired herself, didn't seem nearly as bothered. Riku, in fact, had lost his grin a minute and a half ago while Yuffie's was still going. She was having fun, of course.

Desperately Riku searched for openings, looking for quick ways to end the match. To test Yuffie's movements he switched to the defensive, only blocking her attacks and not countering. This way he was able to observe her style of attack better, construe her speed and angles of attack.

When he was certain he'd gotten the gist of it, Riku waited for one of Yuffie's jabs to come flying near his stomach. He anticipated the angle and wrenched his sword underneath, thrusting it upward with a loud _clack! _Though Yuffie did not lose grip on her sword as Riku had hoped, she was still left wide open as her sword was pointed high toward the sky. He reacted immediately, taking advantage of her exposure, and spun around horizontally, gaining the speed he needed to send Yuffie soaring backwards with the impact of his weapon.

And just as Riku's sword as about to connect with her torso, Yuffie jumped nimbly into the air, swinging both legs over his propelling attack, and touched to the ground on one knee and hand, sweeping her legs across the sand as a break dancer would a sidewalk, and took Riku's feet from underneath him. Riku thudded on the ground, losing grip on his weapon which Yuffie snatched on the rebound and leapt to her feet.

She stood over him, victorious, pointing his own weapon at him while holding her own in the other hand.

Riku rose on his knees, leaning over on one hand, panting furiously. He'd lost.

He wiped the sweat from his face and gazed up. Slowly he stood to his feet and took his weapon who's handle Yuffie had offered.

"You did pretty damn well, Riku, but you still lost," Yuffie said, panting lightly herself. But there was a fresh smile on her face that said she was proud and impressed with this efforts.

"Yeah," Riku responded, just short of breath. "I did good, but losing is losing."

Sora and the others ran over to Yuffie and Riku, jumping and shouting cries of excitement.

"That was amazing!" Both Sora and Tidus cried together.

"Man, I never thought I'd see the day when someone would give Riku a run for his money," Tidus continued.

"Heh, well it's a good thing we weren't betting money or else I would be broke," Riku said, shrugging one shoulder.

"Riku, you were fantastic," complimented Kairi, eyes sparkling. "I never knew you were that good."

Normally Riku would have been elated by her comment, but instead he was…unenthusiastic. "Yeah," he mumbled, "but…heh, still lost."

"Yuffie, you were incredible!" Sora cried. "I've never seen anyone fight like you!"

Yuffie, still panting a little, grinned sheepishly and rubbed that back of her head. "_Ninja_," she replied proudly. "Oh yeah, and thanks for letting me borrow your sword, Sora." She offered him the handle which he reached out to grab.

"No problem! It was so worth it to see you--"

_C-c-c-crack!_

Without warning Sora's sword splintered and snapped apart, sending small pieces plummeting into the sand.

Everyone, Riku included, stood in wordless disbelief, awestruck.  
There was a minute or so of concentrated silence before someone spoke.

"Uh…Sora?" Yuffie mumbled in bewilderment. "Riku says he's sorry."


	11. Unfolded

Unfolded

11

//----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------//

For days into weeks Riku trained with Yuffie on shore, sharpening his skills and tweaking his style, everyday improving and everyday becoming better. Even Sora and Tidus jumped in every now and then. Yuffie was an astounding sparring partner. Not only because she was strong, but because she was fun to be around. During these days which they trained, Riku and Yuffie spent tremendous amounts of time together. Not only did they clash weapons often, but Riku decided to take it upon himself to tutor Yuffie in the subjects which he was learning in school.

Yuffie, surprisingly enough, was a great student as Riku was a teacher. Yuffie may slack off, complain, and make uncalled for sarcastic remarks out of boredom, but she absorbed the material quickly. Working on the raft became more of a constructive hobby which they only revisited after days of tiring training. Sora and Kairi would help too, collecting things and what not, but Riku and Yuffie were the main contributors to the project.

Riku's mother had only needed three days, however, to fall in love with Yuffie, and before Riku knew it she was buying food and setting places at the table for three people, happily doing extra loads of laundry (Riku and Yuffie ruined so many outfits sparring), and scolding two children instead of one. She treated Yuffie as if she were a natural blood daughter--as if she had been there from the beginning.

The three of them even took shopping trips together in the town square and attended public festivities together. Sometimes when Riku was out with Sora, Tidus, and Wakka, Riku's mom took Yuffie and went to small café's and other girlish outings. Yuffie enjoyed them every bit as much as if she were doing them with her real mother, and perhaps that's what Riku's mom had become to her.

However, even though Riku's mother clearly looked at Yuffie with the affectionate eyes of a mother, Riku could never think of Yuffie as a sister. He'd made countless attempts during his meditative solitude to try and trick himself into believing that she was exactly that, but once he looked at her, all attempts blew up in his face.

Yuffie was beautiful to him. She was almost his size, only half a head shorter, and her hair and skin looked so soft that he had to forcefully hold himself back from stroking it when his urges begun to get the better of him. He often caught himself staring at her exposed legs on the days she wore shorts, which was nearly every day, and her voice had began to settle inside his mind so comfortably that he nearly mistook to be music, like a song in his head that wouldn't go away.

And though Riku could conjure up just enough strength to refrain from touching Yuffie, he could not, however, control himself from mistreating Sora when he got to close to her. Sora even began to stray wary of Riku for a time, but returned to normal after a few energetic persuasions from Yuffie. Whenever it seemed like Riku and Sora's relationship was beginning to spin off track, she'd find some clever way for them to reconcile and bond like the friends they've always been before even Kairi came to the island.

But Kairi herself became an obscurity. The love and agony Riku had felt over her had begun to rinse away, like a message written in the sand. His affections for Yuffie was the tide, effortlessly washing the words into nothing but a faded outline. Kairi flickered across Riku's mind only when the day was done and everything that needed to be taken care of was, but even then did he not take much time to mull over her whereabouts. She had Sora for that.

"Hey, Riku!" a playful voice sounded behind him as he felt a gentle tap on his back. Riku had been sitting on the paopu trunk, mesmerized by the setting sun, dreaming of the adventures he would soon be having once the raft was complete. "It's almost time to go."

"Oh Yuffie--" but it wasn't Yuffie. It was Kairi who had addresses him. Riku was almost certain that had been Yuffie, for that's exactly how she would have gotten his attention, but then again the tap on his back was far too soft. "Ah, hello, Kairi," said Riku softly, still lingering on the after affects of tranquility produced by the melting sun.

Kairi walked around the paopu tree and leaned against it's trunk next to Riku's legs. "Zoning out as always, huh?" she giggled.

"Yeah," Riku replied, tilting his head up toward the horizon.

"The raft is almost done, you know," Kairi said. "It's coming along great. But I suppose that's mostly due to yours and Yuffie's hard work."

"You and Sora did your part too. It wasn't just us." Riku smiled, warmed by the term "us" instead of "Yuffie and I," as if they were a single entity now instead of two separate ones.

"I guess, but Sora pretty much just lazed about like a goof-ball. I wasn't any better, but hey, regardless the raft is just about ready to set sail. Have you thought about what you're going to do once the time comes?" Kairi asked.

"I have," Riku said confidently. "We'll need food--lot's of it--and water. We'll need many other provisions as well, including extra oars, canteens, and another sail just in case our primary one rips. I also have a survival guide at home that I'll bring and both Sora and I have agreed to bring our fishing rods for when we run out of food. If it rains, which is unlikely for at least the next week or so--I've constantly been checking the weather report--we have a fold out shelter we can secure onto our raft."

"W-wow, you've really been thinking hard about this, haven't you?" Kairi stammered.

"I've had to. Though this may be exciting, it isn't a game. If a storm were to come and rip the raft in half, we would all be in trouble, and I can't allow mistakes like that to happen no matter what."

"Your amazing, Riku," Kairi sighed, awestruck.

"Nah, just careful. And besides, Yuffie's the one who…so _kindly_ expressed her concerns to me after I'd told her just how little I'd considered about the matter."

"Oh, gave you a hard time?" Kairi's tone was curious, even a little hopeful.

"Not really," Riku responded. "Even if she was, it was because it was well deserved. I can't afford to be so foolish."

"Oh," Kairi said blandly. "That's smart, I suppose…"

There was a moment of silence between the two of them, creating an unfamiliar tension in the air that seemed as if it had spawned from loose acquaintances rather than childhood friends.

"You've changed, Riku," Kairi said, breaking through the silence. She twiddled her fingers together as if she was unsure of what she was saying. Riku offered her his full attention, waiting for her to elaborate.

"What do you mean?" he asked gently.

"You…well…hmm."

"Yes?" he pressed.

"Yuffie's…not really your cousin, is she?" Kairi mumbled, more to herself than to Riku.

"What?" Riku responded, eyes wide.

"It's just, well, you don't treat her like your cousin. When you look at her, it's just…your eyes, they…are different. Kind of like how you used to look at me, but…different."

If the awkwardness was hidden before, it wasn't now. Riku released a fraction of stress building up inside him by loosely clenching a fist, but still he said nothing. What could he say? He couldn't deny that her observations were correct, but he couldn't admit them either. "Yuffie," he said slowly, "_is _my cousin."

Kairi clenched her hands together into a tight fold and narrowed her eyes at the ground. "You didn't used to be a liar, either."

"Hey, you guys ready yet?!" whined Sora loudly, popping up beside them. Kairi squeaked in surprise, flinching to the side, as did Riku. "Gah, what is it Sora?" yelled Riku.

"Ah, _so _sorry!" Yuffie cried, suddenly appearing next to Sora. She pulled him into a choke hold from behind and flashed everyone an apologetic smile. "Just couldn't keep him still, y'know? He's as fidgety as a rabbit. Impatient as one too."

"Ah--ugh!--As if--ack--you're one to talk!" Sora cried, trying to break free. Yuffie released him and gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder.

"Anyways," Yuffie said, giving Riku a more forceful slap on his back, "It's time to go, yeah? I feel bad when I make your mom wait all by herself at dinner time."

Riku, managing to summon a tiny smile, agreed and said, "Yeah, you're right. Let's go home."

Sora, Yuffie, Riku, and Kairi made their way to the boats in a line. Yuffie and Sora lead the way, laughing and joking around. Riku was a little ways away from them with Kairi following at his heels, utterly soundless.

While he waited for Sora and Yuffie to bring the boats around, Riku stood in one place, hands at his sides. He could feel Kairi staring at him from behind, and just as she was about to say something Riku interrupted.

"You know, Kairi," he said bitterly, "funny how you noticed all along exactly how I looked at you, and yet…you never did a thing."

Dinner with Yuffie and his mother managed to pick up his mood a little--they were both such happy people--but still Riku couldn't slake his distraction. He hadn't thought of Kairi this much in weeks, and now suddenly she was all that was on his mind. The mental image of her made him upset, angry even, but he could not erase it from his mind.

After dinner everyone decided to go to bed. Riku's mom kissed both of them good night--which Riku tried fruitlessly to avoid--and disappeared into her room.

Yuffie caught Riku at his door before he too, disappeared until morning. "Riku," Yuffie said quietly, "has something been bothering you? You were awfully quiet at dinner."

"I'm always quiet," he replied tiredly.

"No, there's quiet and then there's Riku quiet. Trust me, you were _Riku quiet_."

Riku chuckled and shook his head as he always does when she makes a silly remark. "No, I'm fine. Really."

"Is it Kairi, Riku? Look, I tried to hold Sora back today so you and Kairi could be alone, but you know how he is. _So _oblivious."

"Believe me, we didn't need alone time. Look, just drop it okay? It doesn't matter. We were just talking about the trip. Nothing else in particular."

"I see…" Yuffie mumbled disbelievingly. "Well…alright, if you say so. If you need time to think I'll give you time to think, but whatever it is I'm sure you'll be just fine. You're a strong person."

Without thinking Riku took his knuckles and grazed them tenderly down Yuffie's cheek. "Thank you," he whispered affectionately, and entered his room.

After closing the door his face heated a few degrees. _Oh, how stupid am I? _he scolded himself inwardly. _I can't believe I just did that to someone who's supposed to be my cousin. _Riku smoothed his bangs back dramatically with his hand and allowed it to fall at his side. When he did he heard a slight rustle in his pocket, like the crackling of a piece of paper.

He reached inside and pulled out an intricately folded note. _Oh, right, I remember this fell out of my trig book_, he recalled. The note was very dry and wrinkly, since he'd forgotten it when his mom went to do his laundry, and he wondered if the text was still legible. After unfolding the note could see that it was, and the handwriting was executed neatly, but in one short line.

_Will you please watch the light show with me?_

**//***************************************//note#2 from moi//**************************************//**

**Haha, well? Found any Easter Eggs yet?**

**Here's one.**

**As you can probably guess, even though it only lasted 3 chapters, the note was indeed an Easter Egg. It showed up, disappeared, then resurfaced, thus planting another Easter Egg in the form of a message.**

**Can you find any others?**

**Heheh**


	12. Quiet

Quiet

12

//--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------//

"Hey, is there going to be a concert somewhere?" Riku asked his friends as they gathered around for lunch the next morning. All the island regulars had the same lunch with the exception of Selphie who was busy copying her friend's English homework five minutes before class. "What? A concert?" Tidus asked, trying his best to make himself heard over the cafeteria noise (which was composed mostly of squealing and ogling young females).

Riku, successfully ignoring all the staring eyes as usual, said, "Yeah, like…I don't know, a fireworks show or something." He crossed his arms over the table, chin resting in his hand with eyes aimlessly straying around the cafeteria. He was clearly unconcerned about the answer.

"No, why? Did you hear something?" Tidus replied.

"This is a pretty small place, y'know," Wakka intervened. "If there was something like that going on we woulda' heard about it, ya?"

"No reason in particular," Riku said, somehow even less interested than before. "Some girl slipped a note in my trig book during class some weeks ago. I'd forgotten about it till yesterday."

"Well if it happened weeks ago than whatever show she mentioned is probably over and done with," Tidus noted, opening his mouth wide to consume half a sandwich.

"Do you know which girl it was?" Sora asked curiously, picking at whatever it was on his trey with a plastic fork.

"No," Riku answered.

"Which girls are in your class?" asked Tidus.

"Isn't Quistis in there?" questioned Sora, finally deciding to brave the unknown dish. He took a bite and shrugged slightly, then took another bite.

"Bet it was her," Wakka said.

"Lucky, man," Tidus commented, mouth still full. "She's _nice_."

"So? Kairi is nice too," Sora butted in dumbly.

Tidus nearly spewed his half chewed food onto Wakka, laughing.

"Hey, keep it in, will ya?" Wakka cried, cringing away from him in disgust.

After wiping his mouth with a napkin Tidus turned to Riku and Sora with laughing eyes, but his gaze lingered on Riku. "Riku?" he asked, his tone high.

"What?"

"Have you…gotten taller?"

Riku unfolded one of his arms and stretched it out to examine it. "I don't think so."

"Actually, it looks like you have," Sora agreed.

"Hey," Tidus said, "you and Wakka go stand over there next to each other. You two have always been about the same height."

"That's unnecessary," Riku sighed.

"Come one, Riku," Wakka urged. "I wanna see for myself, ya? I think you may've sprung up an inch."

Riku sighed patiently and went to stand next to him. He folded his arms, construing the difference. He couldn't keep a smirk from creeping across his face. "You know, I think you may be right," he noted conceitedly. "I think I've finally smoked you, Wakka."

"Yeah, you're right. Riku's definitely taller," Tidus examined. "About two inches or so. Crazy. I didn't even notice until just now."

"Yeah, me either!" Sora exclaimed, clearly upset. He knew for a fact he hadn't gotten taller at all.

"You just gotta be better than me at everything, don't you?" Wakka smirked back at him, folding his arms to mimic Riku's superior stance.

"No, it's not just you," Sora stated. "It's all of us."

Riku shook his head and laughed. "You're such a sore loser, Sora," he chuckled.

He and Riku began exchanging light insults as Wakka and himself took their seats.

After that tired itself out and a Tidus picked up with a different subject, Riku, who had vaguely been aware of Kairi sitting to Sora's left, turned unwillingly toward the velvet haired girl. She sat quietly, making no contributions to the conversation at all, and it made Riku feel almost guilty. Almost. Too long had he suffered over this creature, and though he wanted to be cruel to her, the best he could to was ignore her feelings.

"What's wrong, Kai?" Sora asked with concern after stupidly noticing her silence for the first time. "You're so quiet."

"Huh?" she mumbled, rising her head from her food as if she had just recalled where she was. "Um…no, I'm okay." She made a smile at him, but it was weak. "Just tired." She then glanced at everyone around the table, meeting everyone's eyes to reassure her statement. Everyone's except Riku's.

The day was ending quickly, too quickly, and Riku felt as if something was off. There was a soft reoccurring prickling in his skin that unconsciously made him rub his forearms from time to time, as if he had on an uncomfortable sweater. It wasn't until Sora pointed it out that he noticed. "Something wrong, Riku?" Sora asked on the way home. Kairi was there too, but she hovered in the back of them, soundless.

Riku separated his hand from his irritated arm and shoved them inside his pockets. "No," he said. "Must be knats or something."

"Oh really, but it's not that buggy out here." Sora waved his hands in the air as if to shoo away the invisible bugs. When night begun to fall and the air became humid, there would be a monstrously large number of bugs zooming about, but this day was rather cool and breezy. Riku shrugged his shoulder and looked up into the sky. Twilight had not yet descended, but the sky was beginning to warm with the colors of it.

They came to Sora's house first, as always. After saying good-bye, Riku walked Kairi to her house as well. It was in the complete opposite direction of his home, but a gentleman _must_ be a gentleman. If there was anything his mother never stressed enough during hid childhood, it was that. Funny, though, how he never applied that teaching to Yuffie.

Without knowing his lips curved into a half amused smile. If someone took her by the hand and kissed her on the knuckles she'd probably flip the hell out. Riku played this out in his head repeatedly to pass the time, since he didn't feel like striking up a conversation with Kairi.

"What's funny?" she asked after a while.

Oops. Just how long had he been smiling? "Ha, nothing," Riku responded casually.

"Did I do something?" she asked lightly.

Again his imagination got the better of him. "No," he said, resisting a chuckle. "It's nothing."

"You've been laughing so much recently, Riku," Kairi noted wistfully. "And even now when there's nothing funny in sight, you smile and laugh. You really have changed."

Riku, to Kairi's surprise, thrust his eyes upon the sky with a bright smile on his face and said laughing, "Yes, I guess I've become a real weirdo. Yuffie is starting to rub off on me!"

"I thought she _wasn't_ weird," Kairi stated, tone slightly bitter.

"No," Riku corrected, holding a finger up in the air, eyes closed, "I said she wasn't _freakish_, but she _is _weird."

Kairi said nothing--didn't even smile--but Riku ignored this, lost in a contentedness of his own.

It was quiet for a while as the two continued walking, but Kairi stumbled and fell to her knees.

"Kairi!" exclaimed Riku. "Are you alright?" He rushed to her side and kneeled down. He tried to help her up by her hand, just as a gentleman would, but she would not let him. Kairi pulled her hand from his grip in refusal; not violently, but sharply.

"Kairi, what's wrong?" Riku asked, stricken with surprise.

Kairi did not get up when she spoke. She didn't even rise her head. She folded her hands tightly on her lap, shoulders erect.

"As if you don't know," Kairi whispered, her voice shaking.

"What?" Riku responded, not knowing at all how to react. Never had Kairi acted this way before.

"You hate me, right, Riku?"

Riku's mouth parted in surprise, yet he was rendered utterly speechless.

"I didn't return your feelings and now you hate me, right?!"

Riku could tell she was trying her best not to cry, but a tiny dark spot appeared on her purple skirt where a tear dropped.

Riku kneeled down on one knee and rested his arm over it. "You know that's not true," he said firmly, though he hardly believed the words himself.

"Yes it is," Kairi replied miserably. "Why else would you have been ignoring me?"

Riku cringed back, eyes tight. All the guilt he had been crushing under his heart sprang up in his face. Yes…he had been ignoring her. But anymore than she had been ignoring him? Was he really the bad guy here? She had allowed him to suffer for years without even so much as a polite and subtle rejection--no, not even a rejection, just something that would have crushed his hopes from the start to kindly let him know he never had a chance. Was he really the only one to blame?

Still…

Riku took his hand and softly gripped under her chin to elevate her gaze. "Kairi, do you know how long we've been friends? And in that long time have we ever fought? Ever? We haven't then and we are not now. You know I don't hate you--I never have, and it hurts me that you would so easily think that. I've just had a lot on my mind with the upcoming trip, you know that."

A beautiful and logical excuse, but an outright lie. Still, Kairi nodded her head, understanding and remorse striking her features. She wiped a few hovering tears from her eyes with the back of her and sighed.

"I'm sorry, Riku," she apologized wretchedly. She kept her hand masked over her face, hiding her expression from him, though it clearly showed in her voice.

"It's just…I love you."

Riku snatched his hand away from her face, cringing back with an expression he could not get control of. Her words were…incomprehensible. What had she just said? Love…? She _loved _him?

"Oh my gosh, what happened?" a voice popped in over Riku's head. "Kairi, are you okay?"

It was Yuffie, bending over Riku's shoulder examining the tear-stained girl on the ground. She looked down at Riku and he in turn, gazed upward, mouth agape and eyes wild as if incredulous to his surroundings. Yuffie jerked her head back a little, alarmed at his expression, then looked at Kairi once more.

Riku was looking up at Yuffie, so he did not see Kairi twist her mouth into a hard frown at Yuffie's appearance. She then jumped to her feet and sprang in the direction of her house after muttering a soft apology to Riku.

Riku didn't move from his spot. He didn't even stare after her. He just sat still, piercing the ground with his eyes. Yuffie moved in front of him and forcibly grabbed his hand, lifting him to his feet. "What was that all about?" Yuffie asked intently. "Did she get hurt or something?"

Riku shook his head and turned around. "No, not really. She just…tripped."

"That's not what it looked like to me."

"It doesn't matter what it looked like. It's none of your business," Riku muttered more harshly than intended. "What are you even doing here?"

"I came to meet you." Yuffie's voice was flat.

"Why?"

"Isn't that what I usually do?"

"You could just _wait_ for me to come home, you know."

Yuffie didn't say anything; just sighed and walked ahead. "All right then, next time I will. Let's go home, Baby-toy-breaker." Yuffie skipped past him, but even from the back he could tell she was upset by his attitude. Actually, pissed off may have been a better description.

Riku followed soundly behind her, reflecting on his own wretchedness of character. For someone who attracted a lot of girls, he most certainly never had any luck with them. Or rather, with the ones he actually cared about.

For the last time Riku looked into the sky, only to see it now glittering with stars, and unconsciously brought his hand to his arm and stroked it.

**//**********************************//note #3 from moi//******************************************//**

**Hot damn, 12 chapters. It's been a long road but a only short amount of time. At this point I feel as if I finally have to make the declaration. **

**_Congratulations!_ **

**Not only to me, but to everyone who's been supporting me, including those of you who haven't reviewed.**

**To those who have reviewed, I thank you very much from the bottom of my heart. No matter what it is, I love absolutely everything it is you have to say, even it it's negative.**

**Trust me when I say we are _not_ done yet, and I plan to finish this story with the ending it deserves. I already have it planned out in full and I hope dearly that those of you who have supported me thus far will continue down the road and make the journey with me to the end.**


	13. Just One

Just One

13

//---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------//

Yuffie sat amongst a cluster coconut trees, submerged in the comforting coolness of it's shadows, and stared at the raft. Riku and the others had decided to move it to the northern part of the island, opposite to the one where the waterfall was located, since they thought it would prove to be a better work space. The raft was large indeed. Large enough for about…four people.

Four people.

Yuffie took a yellow coconut she had knocked down and starting tossing it in the air. She didn't want to look at the raft anymore. It was making her…unhappy. Strongly guilty.

Everyone had a day off from school today so they decided to meet on the little island as usual. Riku was training on the other end of the island with Sora, though Sora couldn't help but treat sparring matches against him as actual matches. Because of this Riku wound up scolding Sora often, which caused the two to break out into fights, which caused Yuffie to have to scold them both. Kairi only watched the whole time, staying clear away--especially from Yuffie--even though she was originally the one to step between them when things got too out of control. Yuffie used to wonder why she had stopped, but never asked the question out loud.

After breaking up one of Riku and Sora's fights, Yuffie had moseyed to the other side of the island where the raft was located, wanting to be alone to think. Lately she had been restless, immensely so, and by the looks of things so had Riku. The attitude he'd displayed toward her yesterday was more than unnerving, even infuriating to a degree, but…

Kairi had said she _loved _him.

When Yuffie had seen Kairi on the ground, she panicked, thinking the girl might have gotten hurt, so she rushed over. Then she heard Kairi say it.

"_It's just…I love you."_

Yuffie had had a lot of pain inflicted on her in the past--so much at some points that she thought she might die--but never had she felt anything like this. With physical pain you could grin and bear it, pretend it didn't hurt and wait for it to heal itself, but this pain…

Yuffie missed the coconut and it hit her leg, rolling onto the sand. "Ow," she mumbled without feeling. As mentioned, she'd felt worse. As Yuffie reached down to retrieve it she heard a distant exchanging of voices not far from her. She immediately pinpointed Riku's, but the other took her a longer time recognize. It was female. After a second or two she realized it was Kairi's. Who else? Quietly Yuffie slipped behind a tree and scooped the yellow coconut into her lap, waiting silently for their approach.

When the padding of footsteps on the ground became clear and distinguishable, Yuffie heard Riku murmur, "Strange, I thought she'd be here with the raft." Riku looked around intently, but his eyes passed right over her. Fixing his gaze upon the raft, Riku stepped over to examine it closely, his shoes kicking up sand as he walked. He grasped a few boards, testing their sturdiness, then turned his attention to the sails, the extra attachments, and the edges of it's underside.

"Maybe she left already?" Kairi assumed out loud, a little too much perkiness in her voice.

"No," Riku replied, his voice monotone. He resumed testing the attachments on the raft, his back facing her, and continued with effortless certainty, "She wouldn't leave without saying anything. She must be here somewhere."

"You can't _really_ know that."

"Yes, I can." Riku turned on her, a stern expression on his face, but Kairi merely sighed. She gazed across the ocean to her right, hand grasping her forearm behind her back in a gesture she usually did when she was thinking about something.

"Look, Riku," Kairi said sadly, eyes still fixed on the ocean. "About what I said yesterday…"

Yuffie's heart wrenched. She stroked the yellow coconut in her lap absentmindedly, almost as if to get a feel for its texture, and continued to listen.

"What about it?" Riku replied softly without turning to face her. Though Riku pretended to be interested in the raft, his eyes were blatantly unfocused.

"I think…I may have made you upset. I…I'm sorry."

Riku hesitated before responding, as if choosing his words with caution. "It's fine. You don't have to apologize."

_No, what you mean to say is "an apology won't help anything", _Yuffie thought humorlessly. With the coconut still in her lap, she drew her knees up at an angle and crossed both arms over them.

"I--well--I just don't know what else to say," Kairi admitted, shamefaced.

"…It just confused me, alight?" Riku said suddenly, turning to her with a spin of his heels. His eyes were abruptly wild, unfocused as if he didn't know what to look at. "All this time, Kairi, I've been in love with you," he claimed in a short breath, "So much that I didn't know what to do with myself. I've always, more than anything, wanted you to say it back to me, but you never did. And now, just like that, you…you…" Words failed him. He was at a complete loss for how to continue.

Yuffie bowed her head onto her knees and wrapped her arms around them.

Ripping. Tearing. Her heart. It was breaking. Slowly. Painfully.

Kairi, eyes drawn together with an incredulous look on her face, brought her arms from behind her back and cupped her right hand over her mouth. Slowly she removed it and whispered with a quiver in her voice, "Oh, Riku…"

Delicately she sprinted towards him, arms outstretched, and collided into his chest, ensnaring him around his back. Riku, at first taken by surprise, hesitated before retuning her embrace. It was a loose embrace, an embrace unsure of itself, but then he tightened it, pulling her into his shoulder, allowing the fragrance of her soft velvet hair to whisk through his lungs. She cuddled her face into his shirt as if to dry her eyes, then sighed.

"Kairi…" Riku whispered tenderly into her ear, but a quick procession of footsteps on the sand interrupted them. Immediately they separated, Kairi drying her eyes so quick you'd have thought she never shed a tear, and Riku stood there, looking uncomfortable and slightly at a loss.

"There they are!" Sora called, racing Tidus across the beach. Together they ran in sync, but when finally they reached their destination, Sora had smoked him. "AWW MAAAN!" Tidus whined loudly. "I lost!" Sora grinned and put his arms behind his head, leaning back on his heels. "Yup, better luck next time!" he gloated, laughing. Then, turning to Riku and Kairi he said in a sudden rush, "So, did you find her?"

Riku blinked a couple of times, uncomprehending, then parted his mouth in an "O". "No," he answered gently. "I didn't--I mean we didn't find her."

"Oh…" Sora sighed disappointedly. "Must have gone home, then."

"Yeah," Riku responded, gazing toward the ocean. "Maybe…"

"Oh well," Tidus huffed out, still panting from the race. "Let's get back to the other side. Selphie says she wants to light another bon fire. I swear one day she'll burn down the whole island."

With a few murmurs of agreement and some energetic ushering from Sora, the group hurried along.

When the footsteps had died away, Yuffie allowed her legs to slump flatly on the ground, coconut rolling out of her lap. She allowed her arms to drape lifelessly onto the sand, her gaze shrouded, and her mind barren.

Alone. They'd left her alone. Even Riku. All of them, brushing her from their minds as quickly and easily as a flutter of eraser shavings. But…was there really a need to feel so…_horrible?_

This was how it should be, right? She had never been a part of the island to begin with. She was never family. Never anything. Still…

But still…

A true warrior never shows his or her emotions. Never dwells on the past. Never lusts after futile and trivial pursuits.

And never relies too heavily on friendship, especially one that you knew from the start was feigned.

Yet…

And yet…one. She allowed one tear to fall.

Just one.


	14. Tail Light

Tail Light

14

//-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------//

When Yuffie finally had the strength to lift herself from under the shadow of coconut trees, she found that the shadows themselves had spread over the entire island. Twilight was breaking and it was late. Yuffie, in no rush at all, made her way to the adjacent side of the island where the boats were docked, but saw nothing there. Riku and the others had left without her. Still, even though she didn't want to go back, she knew she couldn't say there either.

Before swimming back to the main island, Yuffie tended to some business she had in the cave, then took that cold dive. It was strenuous, swimming to shore just like last time, but the ache in her muscles hardly perturbed her. Not when there was a greater pain swelling inside her chest.

When Yuffie walked in the door to Riku's household, she was surprised to see only Mai, Riku's mother, sitting on the couch. She had been reading quietly, so when Yuffie opened the door, sopping wet and shivering, Mai all but launched out of her seat in alarm.

"Yuffie!" she cried. "Oh my God, what happened?" She let the now forgotten book to drop onto the couch cushion and ran to place her hands on Yuffie's damp shoulders, looking her up and down frantically.

"I'm not hurt or anything," Yuffie lied with a weak smile. "I went for a swim in the ocean."

"With your _clothes on_, sweetie?" she exclaimed.

"You make it sound like I wouldn't do it," Yuffie replied, restoring a little bit of that lost humor.

"Gosh, Yuffie," Mai sighed, exasperated. "Just take your clothes off here while I go get you a towel. Don't worry, Riku's not here; he went out."

"He did?" Yuffie asked surprised, already shedding her drenched shirt.

"Yes. I was surprised he wasn't with you when he came home. He asked where you were, in fact, and when I told him you weren't here he rushed off. I think he might be out looking for you."

Mai then ran upstairs to retrieve the towel, leaving Yuffie to absorb the information. _So he's out looking for me…_Yuffie thought dryly. _I guess that means I'll have to go track him down now._

After Yuffie dried and changed clothes, she headed out to search for Baby-Toy-Baka against Mai's protests. Yuffie was, again, in no rush. In fact, she wasn't even sure she wanted to find Riku, but what had to be done had to be done. Who knows how late he'd be running around until he decided to come home. Riku was, if nothing else, determined and ambitious.

Yuffie kept pace on the cobblestone walkway weaving through the main land. There weren't many cars where Riku and the others lived, and not a lot of tourists or people in general. Yuffie doubted that there would even be crime in a place as heart-breakingly peaceful as this. She was still sore from the swim from the other island, and so her movements were slower than usual. It was only when she decided to finally head home she heard someone call her name.

"Yuffie!" yelled a familiar bubbly voice. Sora.

Yuffie turned and saw him beyond the white picket fence of his house, taking out the trash. He was waving enthusiastically, a smile so plain on his face you'd think it was stuck that way. Sora effortlessly hopped over the fence and ran over to her. Yuffie couldn't help but smile back. What a sight for sore eyes. Sora was, in fact, the only person who had inquired about her whereabouts on the island after all.

"Yuffie, what are you doing here?" Sora asked grinning; the kind of grin one gives when being received with an unexpected surprise. A pleasant surprise. "Looking for your idiot friend," Yuffie replied happily, slightly rejuvenated by Sora's energetic disposition. "Um…" Sora mumbled, ruffling the back of his head. "Okay, which friend is that?"

Yuffie laughed. Of course no one ever considered the infamous Riku an idiot. Well, besides herself. "Riku," she verified.

"Oh, heh heh. Nope, I haven't. Why? He's not at home?"

"Nah, I think the moron may be out looking for me or something. We came home at different times today, so…" Strange. Some time ago Yuffie would have lied about that, thinking it was none of his business. In fact, when was the last time she _had_ lied…?

"Oh, right, we thought you may have gone home already, but I guess not," Sora stated. "But do you want me to help you look for him?"

Yuffie was about to say yes, then remembered she was going home. "No, but thanks anyway, Sora. I was just going home anyway. Eventually Riku will show up if I just stay in one place."

"Oh, well okay then!"

Yuffie waved good-bye to him, turning in the opposite direction, but Sora stopped her by the shoulder.

"Um, Yuffie," Sora started, a sudden melancholy in his voice. Yuffie was alarmed and puzzled.

"What is it?" she asked with worry.

"Yuffie, is…" he looked down, resisting the urge to bite down on his lower lip. "Is there anything going on between Riku and Kairi?"

Yuffie widened her eyes, taken completely off guard, and stuttered when she spoke. "N--Uh--Why? Why would you ask that?" she said stupidly. Hopefully Sora would just write the stutter off as an effect of surprise. Which he did. "It's just," he continued, lifting his eyes up to meet hers, "they've been acting weird around each other lately and…every now and then I find them together, just the two of them. I want to know what's going on."

Ah, so it seemed he wasn't ignorant of his feelings after all. Yuffie didn't know what to say to him. Sora looked so sad. She wanted to tell him he was just imagining things, more than anyone could ever imagine, and have it be true. But that wasn't the case. Still, for Sora, she would lie.

"I'm sure you're just imagining things," she told him, willing the words to be true. "You do remember that we'll be setting sail very soon, and Riku and Kairi have always been the most organized out of everyone. I'm sure they've just been regrouping plans and…I don't know, checking supplies." A perfectly reasonable conclusion, and by the looks of things, Sora thought so too.

"Oh," he responded, eyebrows lifting, "Yeah…Yeah! I guess you're right!" His grin returned naturally, just as it always does. Even though Yuffie knew she had lied, it still made her feel relieved. Sora's personality is just infectious, that's all, and Yuffie knew that the second they separated she would feel horrid again. It made her hesitant to leave.

"Hey, Sora," Yuffie said with a smile, "Do you want to--" She cut her sentence off, spotting a figure at the end of the road from the side of her eye. The figure was at a crossroad, whipping his head in all directions, chest heaving and brows glistening with sweat as if he'd been running for hours. He turned then, doing a double take, and met Yuffie's eyes from down the road.

Who else could it have been but Riku.

It seemed as if he'd finally found her, but his expression was far from relieved. He looked absolutely furious.

Riku twisted his mouth down into half a snarl and sprinted in her direction. "Ooh, doesn't someone look pissed," Yuffie muttered under her breath, crossing her arms. Sora heard and cast her a quick and confused glance, then looked at Riku, startled.

Riku stopped sprinting after a few seconds and closed the rest of the distance with long, angry stalks. Sora was about to say something, but Riku turned on him abruptly, silencing him with a wild and enraged look, and snapped his head back to Yuffie. He waited till his breathing slowed a fraction before continuing.

"What are you doing here?" he questioned lowly, keeping the anger in his voice tight and well controlled.

"I _was_ looking for you," Yuffie said defensively, arms still crossed.

"Are you KIDDING me?!" Riku exploded.

Sora cringed back, but Yuffie made no reaction at all.

"Do you know how long I've been looking for you?! You'd better tell me why you're _here_," he cast Sora a quick angry look, "instead of being home like you're _supposed _to!"

"I'm not _supposed _to be anywhere," Yuffie said, her tone dangerously low. "I'm not some little kid who grew up carefree on a happy little island where everyone has a bedtime. I go and do whatever I want. I would have come back when I felt like it and I don't need your permission to do otherwise."

Riku looked at if her as if he were about to erupt out of his skin, his cheeks flushed from running, eyes threatening, but instead he shook his head vigorously. "Yuffie, it's not about permission or doing what you feel like," he explained, struggling for control over his voice. He brought his hand to his head, masking his eyes. He squeezed the bridge of his nose between them and said calmly, "It's about courtesy."

"Courtesy?" Yuffie repeated, puzzled.

"Yes, courtesy. It has nothing to do with you, but us, Mother and I, and…" He took a futile glance toward the sky and dropped his gaze upon he ground before meeting her eyes again. "I was _worried_ about you, Yuffie," he admitted roughly. He took a small step foreword, leaning in towards her face and said in a course and urgent whisper, "I was so scared you'd left."

Yuffie didn't know how to respond or react. Never in her life had anyone ever been worried about her. It created a very conflicted feeling. Extreme guilt…and extreme happiness. "Let's go home," Yuffie said, eyes tight, staring at the ground. Riku nodded and turned to Sora. He smiled at him as if to wash away the impression of the previously foul encounter and said lightly, "Thanks Sora, for keeping her in one place for me."

"U-Um, sure. No problem," he replied, forcing a smile. Riku looked as if he felt guilty, and he should, but he knew as well as anyone that Sora would forget all about this tomorrow.

Yuffie waved a wordless goodbye to Sora and together she and Riku headed home. They said nothing to each other for a long time, only matched each other's steps, keeping pace with one another. The sky was dark and shining with stars by now, and a breeze from the ocean had kicked up. It was Riku who finally broke the silence. "Oh, look," he said gently, but with a certain urgency, "a shooting star."

Yuffie turned her gaze upward to where he was pointing and just caught sight of the star's tail light before it melted back into the night sky. "Aren't you going to make a wish?" Riku asked, smiling softly and gazing at her with tender eyes.

"No," Yuffie replied with a tiny smile. "I don't make wishes on falling stars anymore."


	15. Unbreakable

Unbreakable

15

//-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------//

It was deiced on the previous night that the day of departure would be tomorrow. Yuffie was completely at ease, but it seemed as if everyone else was taken by surprise. However, they were excited too. Nothing stimulated the young spirit like the promise of adventure.

Everyone was at school at the moment, and would be released in about an hour or so. Yuffie took this extremely small amount of time to bond with Mai, since she wouldn't be seeing her ever again after tonight.

"Mai," Yuffie called, peeking her head around the corner into the kitchen. She was more comfortable calling Mai by her name than ever before, probably because she knew their time together as surrogate mother and daughter would soon come to an abrupt end. Mai was busily rearranging her spice rack when Yuffie entered.

"Oh, Yuffie," Mai said with a slight blush, "first it was Riku's Mom, now Mai--if I've told you once I've told you a thousand times. Call me Mom!" Her smile was radiant with joy, eyes sparkling fondly. Yuffie felt an incredibly sharp explosion of pain in her chest, right in her heart, and she bowed her head, allowing her hair to cover her eyes. She could not let Mai see this.

"M-Mom," Yuffie stuttered, restraining the tremble in her voice. She cleared her throat and rubbed her eyes slightly, as if she had something in them. When she was certain she'd gotten a hold on herself, Yuffie looked up and approached the table where Mai lay the spice rack. "Yeeees?" Mai replied with an exuberant smile. Yuffie took a second longer to respond than usual, so Mai immediately jumped on the opportunity to ask what was wrong. Exactly as a mom would.

"Is something the matter, Yuffie?" she asked, coming from around the table. Yuffie gazed at the spice rack, contemplating what to say. Even if she wasn't rusty with fibbing, Yuffie was certain she still could not lie to this woman. "I am…sad," Yuffie said softly.

"Why?" Mai asked with genuine concern. It made Yuffie both joyous and miserable.

"I am…leaving soon," Yuffie answered.

Mai gasped, mouth open and eyes wide. "What? What do you mean?" she exclaimed. "When? Why?!"

Yuffie turned and smiled at her. "You know, Mai, I'm actually very close to my mother," Yuffie said suddenly, edging around the table. She allowed her hand to glide smoothly along the surface as she walked. "Or…I was. She died when I was seven. I only really have one memory of her, and it is this. On the day of my seventh birthday she took me out one night, saying she was going to take me to a pretty light show. You can't imagine how incredibly happy this made me. You see, my village was very very small, so festivals and concerts didn't really happen. I never got to see much, and so I was very excited to see what my mother called a light show."

"She scooped me up in her arms--even though I protested--and took me outside. We walked and walked until we reached the top of a cliff where you could see every star in the entire sky. I had never been up there before, because it was dangerous, but that night was special. I waited and waited, pestering mother and asking stupid questions, when suddenly I saw a shooting star. It was the first time I had ever seen one. It was so beautiful. I told my mom and she said back to me with a mischievous smile _'just one?'. _I looked again this time and was surprised to see many others. It was a meteor shower. I had never been so breath-taken in my entire life. I'd never seen anything like it. But…I didn't get to see it through to the end."

Yuffie stopped and turned to look out the window, away from Mai, who was wide eyed with attentiveness and disbelief. And sadness, looking as if she knew what Yuffie was about to say next. Mother's intuition. Yuffie continued.

"We heard a small rustling in the woods behind us. I was frightened, but my mom told me it was probably just some other villagers who came to watch the light show too. She was wrong. These…things, these monsters--let's call them wolves--emerged from the trees and snarled at us. We were horrified. I was terrified, trembling in my mother's arms, and she was terrified for me. Slowly she set me down and told me to run. I wouldn't listen, afraid of what would happen to her if I left, but she urged me, and I went. I ran and ran, always keeping in sight of my mother, afraid to go back to the village without her. It was then I saw the heartl--the wolves--lunge at her, thrusting her off the cliff. I screamed. I watched her fall…and die. Gone. She was gone. I had no mother anymore. My father had already died before I was born. I had no one."

Mai was crying by this point, hands cupped over her mouth, tears streaming down her face. Wordlessly she sprang onto Yuffie, ensnaring her in an inescapable embrace. Yuffie hugged her back, eyes dry, but tight. She'd gotten too used to the memory to cry over it anymore. "I wanted you to know before I left," Yuffie said honestly. "I needed you to know how important you are to me. Riku too. No matter what, this will always be my family."

Mai waited till there wasn't a sniffle left in her before responding. "You don't have to go, Yuffie," she whimpered in a rush, "Why do you have to go? Why can't you just stay here?"

"Mai…I mean, Mom. I can't. I just can't."

Mai released her, holding a trembling grip on her shoulders and said frantically, "Yes, yes you can. There's no reason for you to leave, Yuffie, really there isn't! Who…" She sucked in a breath, her voice shrinking into a rough whisper, "Who would take care of you?"

"I have…people elsewhere that would help me," Yuffie said uncertainly.

"No," Mai protested, "It won't be the same! You have to stay here!"

"Mom," Yuffie began again, eyebrows arched downward. "You have to understand. You _have_ to."

"No I don't."

"Yes," Yuffie smiled sadly. "you do. I love you very much, but I'm leaving whether you want me to or not."

Mai snuffled loudly, grabbing a paper towel roll and ripping off a piece. She pressed it to her nose and said miserably, "Why, Yuffie? I just don't understand…"

"Just know it's because I have to. That's all there is to understand, okay? I am...after all…a ninja." She gave a short and bitter laugh at the end. Mai stared, eyes swollen, not comprehending.

"Look, I won't be taking anything with me either, so don't worry about packing or…anything."

"Because you'll come back?" Mai asked hopefully, almost as if she was certain.

Yuffie bowed her head and whispered wretchedly, "Yes…because I'll come back one day."

Yuffie sighed deeply and gazed directly into Mai's eyes. "Listen, please don't tell Riku, okay? No matter what."

"But why?"

"Because I think it would be better if he heard it from me."

"But Yuffie,"

Yuffie held a finger to her lips, silencing Mai. "Shh, no telling. If there's one thing I remember my mother teaching me it's that no one likes a tattle tale."

Together Riku and Yuffie sat by the paopu tree, gazing out to sea. They'd hardly said a word; only enjoyed one another's silent company. But Yuffie knew she had to say something. "The others are tending to the raft?" she asked quietly.

"Yeah," Riku answered, "we have to prepare everything for tomorrow. The day has finally come."

"Yes…" Yuffie mumbled. "The day has finally come. Not just talk anymore, but really here."

"Yes," Riku said smoothly, a faint smile coloring his lips.

"Um, Riku…" Yuffie started with an edge in her voice.

"Something wrong?" he asked, a hint of concern in his voice. He could tell something was off with her, just as his mother had been able to, and she hardly had to say anything. Maybe family just knows?

"Riku, if one day…I left…without telling you anything, what would you do?"

Riku creased his forehead, even more concerned than he was half a second ago. There was an untraceable tint of horror in his expression as well, but it was expertly concealed.

"What do you mean?" he asked, voice cold.

"If one day I just left and never came back, you'd be alright, wouldn't you Riku?"

Riku hesitated, saying nothing. Yuffie looked at him and saw his expression was hard as steel, studying her with a relentless iron mask. "I don't understand," he said solemnly.

"I need to know you'd be able to hold up without me--take care of Mai, Sora, and everyone else. Riku, I need to know this."

"Why do you _need _to know this?" Riku was starting to sound angry. Desperate.

"Because I need to," Yuffie replied.

Yuffie turned away miserably, staring at nothing but the emptiness of ocean and ever-stretching horizon. She waited anxiously for him to say something.

"Yuffie," he began quietly, erasing the anger from his tone, "do you know why they call this Destiny Island?"

Yuffie looked at him then, surprised.

"It's because of the tree."

"What?" Yuffie tilted her head to the side. "You mean the paopu tree?"

"Yes…the paopu tree. These trees are very rare, you see, and so are treated as irreplaceable landmarks here on Destiny Island. There used to be many of them; before the world started to change, before people started to change, and humans grew healthy from the nourishment provided by the fruit. But one by one the trees began to disappear, one by one, dying, withering, until only few remained, and the one you see here is undoubtedly one of the few. You see, the fruit of the paopu tree has a legend of its own. It is said that lovers from all over the world seek the fruit of these trees, for it binds those who share one together for eternity, even after death. In fact, the paopu tree is the basis for nearly every single romantic piece of literature ever written in Destiny Island's history."

There was a short silence after Riku's elaboration, followed by a rustling of leaves above her. Yuffie, who sat cross-legged at the base of the paopu tree, was genuinely surprised when Riku bounded off, landing right in front of her. She looked up, startled, and saw he had something in his hand. A yellow star shaped fruit. A paopu fruit.

Riku descended on his knees, very close, their faces only inches apart. He was more serious than she'd ever seen him look. His hair had grown long over the time they'd spent together, and his eyes were nearly concealed by his long bangs. Even so, Yuffie could see every word written in his beautiful irises.

"Bite it," he ordered, holding the fruit up to her lips. His voice was final. Absolute. Impossible to argue with.

"No, Riku," Yuffie said waveringly.

"Bite it and chew, then swallow it," he said more sternly. "Do I it or I'll make you eat the whole thing."

Yuffie creased eyebrows, knowing she couldn't resist. Slowly she leaned down and closed her mouth over a star point, taking a piece off. Juice dripped down her chin and she made a move to wipe it off, but Riku put his hand over hers and held it still. He took the paopu fruit and seized a big bite over the same spot where Yuffie's teeth marks indented, and chewed. He swallowed, licking the juice from his lips, and said forcefully, "There, now you _can't_ leave. We're stuck together for eternity whether you like it or not."

Without warning Riku leaned down and roughly pushed his wet lips over hers, mouth moving with eagerness and desperation, tasting the sweet juices on her tongue. The kiss was long and tender, allowing all the love he'd accumulated over the long weeks to express itself freely; uncontrollable, and unbreakable.

Of course, not that she wanted to break it.

**//*********************************************//note #4 from moi//**************************************//**

**Don't worry. Even though this chapter contains what you think may be mistakes, they're not. I know exactly what I'm doing.**

**Believe in me.**


	16. Light Show

Light Show

16

//---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------//

The others had summoned Riku to the other side of the island, requesting his help for overlooking the preparations for tomorrows sail. He left Yuffie where she was, promising to be back the second he was done. For the longest moment she couldn't move, eyes transfixed on the paopu fruit he'd left sitting in her arms, her mind twisting and spinning around viciously. Not only her cheeks, but her whole body was in flames, fiery to the touch, and…unsatisfied.

Yuffie allowed herself to lift from the ground, stumbling against the tree trunk. She continued to lean on it, folding both hands into tight fists, covering her eyes. The emotions that were whirring inside of her were so unfamiliar and powerful, utterly uncontainable, and impossible to comprehend. Never had she thought elation and misery could mix this way.

The paopu fruit had dropped to the ground. She stared at it wildly, then spun in the opposite direction, stalking away. Each sound her foot made against the hard wood of the bridge was like an explosion in her ears, telling her to stop what she was doing, telling her think things over, telling her there was another way to do things, but she wouldn't listen to any of it.

What had to be done…had to be done.

Before heading into the mouth of the small cave she glanced toward the sky. It was a dark mixture of black, blue, and orange. The sun was beginning to set over the horizon, marking the end of the happiest…and saddest day of Yuffie's life. She grit her teeth and rushed in without a backward glance.

It was dark inside the cave, save for center. Before she had left the island yesterday, she went outside and found a way to the roof of the cave, clearing the growth from overhead, leaving a large opening adequate enough from which to view the sky.

Yes…today was the day. She'd been waiting for it for a long time. Such a long time…

Yuffie stepped in the cylinder of light created by the opening and gazed up at the stars. She stared unblinkingly, allowing the light from the moon to sink into her eyes. She glanced down and turned her attention to the thick wooden door embedded in the cave's wall. She went over to it and stroked the surface, fingertips barely making contact.

She balled her hands into fists and placed them on the door, giving it one hard bang, and slumped to the ground.

It was then she allowed every wretched and dejected emotion to come spilling out of her, whole form trembling, lips quivering violently, her voice erupting into gut wrenching sobs. Yuffie leaned over against the door, forehead nearly touching her lap, and wept hard. She loosened her fists, allowing her nails to scrape against the smooth wood as her arms slumped down to her sides.

Every part of her was cracking, breaking, snapping, shattering into pieces. Her heart was swelling painfully, thudding against her chest with awesome might, causing sob after sob to come exploding out into the air. It hurt. Her throat--it hurt so badly. Everything hurt so badly.

She'd come close to death several times during her life, and she was certain there was no contest between that and this. Death would be better. Much better.

After what seemed like ages of this isolated grieving, Yuffie gave one single shuddering breath and inhaled deeply, forcing her sobs to an end. She wiped her eyes roughly, gritting her teeth.

She used the door to help herself up, stumbling against it, and leaned backwards, form resting against the smooth wood. Yuffie looked into the night sky overhead once more and sighed wretchedly.

Waiting.

Waiting.

Waiting.

Until he came.

He did.

Just as she knew he would.

"Yuffie?" he called gently. "Yuffie, are you in here?"

Riku approached slowly, eyes meeting hers the second he stepped into the cavern. He also noticed the wide space of light spilling in from the roof, casting a silvery blue glow over everything. Yuffie included. She stepped forward, stopping at the edge of the cylinder of light. It was like a barrier between the two of them, forcing them apart like a wall. Yuffie smiled at him serenely, almost happily, and Riku opened his eyes intently.

"Yuffie, what are you doing in here?" he asked. "I was looking for you…it's time to go home."

Yuffie continued to smile, then looked upward into the blue light. "Yes…it is time to go home," she replied, just above a whisper. "Or rather…time for _you_ to go home." She lowered her gaze to meet his, ever smiling.

Riku's eyebrows furrowed together. "What?" he asked in a course whisper. He took a step foreword into the silver light. "What do you mean?"

"You have a wonderful home, Riku," Yuffie replied softly, eyes tender with the faintest tint of despair. "Wonderful friends, a wonderful mother, a wonderful life; why would you--anyone--want to leave it?"

Riku was heavily conflicted by her response, causing a small trace of guilt to form in his expression.

"Yuffie," he said desperately, "I don't understand why you're bringing this up now. We had a plan, remember? That we'd set said together. With everyone. Are you telling me--"

"I'm not telling you to give up your dreams of leaving the island," Yuffie interrupted. "I'm telling you that I'm not coming."

Riku flinched back, eyes wide, teetering on the brink of disbelief and anger. "What do you mean?" he demanded. "Yuffie, you have to come. You _have _to. I can't just go without you."

"Probably not," she responded with a bitter chuckle. "And that's what I'm hoping for. That you'll stay here forever."

"I…" Riku was at a loss for words. "I do not understand."

Yuffie stepped forward also, meeting him under the light of the moon. Just like when they first met.

Yuffie smiled at him as she'd never smiled before, warm, happy, and loving. It scared Riku.

"Yuffie--" he began, but she took her arms and placed them around his back, pressing her face tightly into his chest.

It was warm. Safe. Riku.

Riku returned the embrace without thinking, as if it were the natural thing to do. "Yuffie, tell me what's wrong," he begged.

Yuffie, smiling still into his shoulder, laughed a little, and tilted her gaze upward at the stars. "Look, Riku," she whispered, her voice coming out in a breathless wonder.

Riku looked up and saw stars. Many of them. Shining…glittering…falling.

So many, speeding downward as if excitedly racing one another. Countless falling stars. Riku gasped.

Yuffie gazed into his eyes, which were transfixed on the sky, sparkling with the reflection of the moon.

"I wanted to watch it with you," Yuffie said.

Riku looked down at her. "Watch?"

"The light show," Yuffie replied giggling. "I wanted to watch it with you. Beautiful, isn't it?"

Riku's eyes widened with realization. "The note--you mean you--but how did you know that--"

Yuffie held a finger to her lips, breaking away gently from his embrace. She turned sideways toward the wooden door with a mischievous smile playing on her lips. Riku turned too, and parted his mouth in shock. There was an outline of a glowing blue crown on the door, shining ever so familiarly, with what looked like a keyhole in the middle of it.

"The door calls to you, Riku," Yuffie said affectionately. "Surely you knew."

Yuffie took his hand and drew him toward it. Riku followed mechanically, unable to resist.

Yuffie placed him in front of it and stepped behind him. Riku looked at her quickly, then at the door, mouth still agape and eyes uncomprehending.

"It's okay," Yuffie said gently. "You can do it."

"But--"

"You can do it," Yuffie repeated. She grabbed his hand--the one which had once been injured--gently in hers and rose it, palm facing forward.

"Riku, do you know why I can't open this door?" Yuffie asked softly. Placing his hand to the door she leaned in close to his ear, gripping more firmly…

And pushed.

"Because," she whispered lovingly into his ear as a blinding white light exploded throughout the empty space, "only the keyblade master can unlock the door to other worlds."

Riku gasped, blinded by the force of light that assaulted his eyes. He drew back, making a reach for Yuffie, but she wasn't behind him anymore. "Yuffie--" he called, but something heavy in his hand caught him off guard, causing him to falter a step. He looked down, and in his grasp was a giant…key. Beautiful and silver it was, throbbing in his palm as if trying to speak.

_Finally we meet, _it seemed to say.

A bone shattering force collided with his stomach then, sending him flying into the farthest wall. Riku cried out, dropping the keyblade, and slumped against the cave, grasping his stomach while letting loose a barrage of shuttering breaths. Desperately he searched for Yuffie and saw her bending down, taking the keyblade in her possession.

"I knew you were him," Yuffie said smiling, smoothing the length of keyblade with gentle fingers. She lowered it to her side, legs set firmly apart, staring at him with a smirk. "The Keyblade Master."

"Yuffie…why?" Riku choked out. He had meant to say something else, but this is what came out. The expression he wore was that of agony and confusion. And blatant disbelief. He couldn't process what was happening.

"I said you couldn't go to other worlds without opening this door, and you can't," Yuffie confirmed. "You are free to set sail if you want, but I doubt you'll get very far." She walked over to the door, making her way to the entrance, and looked up fondly into the night, catching glimpse of the last falling star.

"Don't worry," she said, facing him. "They won't attack here. Once this door closes again, it will lock and disappear. We won't see each other ever again…Riku…but," Yuffie, now standing directly in front of the glowing opening, smiled warmly and continued. "I just wanted you to know…The time we've spent together…I didn't dislike it."

Abruptly she turned to leap through the door and Riku's heart slammed against his ribcage in violent protest. "No!" he cried fruitlessly.

"DON'T GO!"

But it was too late.

She was gone.

The door closed firmly, allowing the glowing outline of the crown to shine once more before disappearing itself. Riku then heard a booming _clack_, like the sound of a lock fitting into place. It was the exact sound of his heart breaking in two.

"Yuffie…?" he whispered, just short of a whimper.

Riku stumbled forword, abdoman still aching, rib cage screeching, and tried to haul himself foreword with one arm. He struggled to his knees, then to his feet, stumbling against the cave wall, lashing his head furiously about, looking for Yuffie.

Yuffie.

Yuffie.

Yuffie.

Where is she?

_Where is she?!_

His heart throbbed and shuddered, wailing and clawing at his chest. Because it knew. When something like this happens, the heart reacts on it's own, simply because it _knows_. But Riku himself didn't want to believe it, although the truth was right there in front of his eyes.

Gone…

Gone...

Gone...

She was gone.

**//***************************//note #5 from moi//***********************//**

**Tragic, yes?**

**There are an alarming number of Easter Eggs that showed up in previous chapters that existed specifically for this point in the story, and their purposes has finally been fulfilled, resulting in what you've seen here.**

**There are more Easter Eggs that have yet to be revealed, so don't worry.**

**It makes you feel bad for Riku, how things turned out, but in a way this served as a sort of punishment for him. Probably not in the way that most people would have liked, but karma is rather unpredictable, yes?**

**And to my faithful reviewers…**

**I thank you.**

**You are wonderful.**

**As previously requested, please keep supporting me no matter what.**

**All the way until the end.**


	17. Not Fair

Not Fair

17

//-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------//

Kairi noticed how angry Riku had been the day after Yuffie left. When Kairi approached him he would do nothing but glare at her forcefully, as if warning her to stay away—far away. It hurt. Weren't they supposed to be friends? Best friends? Sure Yuffie had left without saying a word, but wasn't her departure planned from the get-go? She couldn't have very well stayed on the island forever.

She…she didn't belong there. Kairi was different. Kairi had been friends with Sora and Riku ever since they were six years old. Yuffie hadn't even been there a fraction of that time, so why were the two of them so upset? Not only Riku, but her leaving had affected Sora as well. He moped and sulked around, depressed, unsmiling, and unenergetic. He hadn't wanted to spar in days.

Everyone else had been shocked, but for the most part they were fine. They allowed their normal lives to return to them, going about their business like always as if Yuffie had never existed. It wasn't fair. Why couldn't Riku and Sora do the same? They hardly even looked at Kairi when she smiled at them, and even when they did, their eyes took on a listless form, void of emotion, and sometimes even lifeless.

Kairi sat by the shore, knees drawn up against her chest, allowing the tide to wash against her feet. She buried her face in her arms.

Not fair.

Not fair.

Not fair.

Wasn't she more important than Yuffie?

Wasn't she nicer?

Wasn't she more interesting?

Wasn't she more fun?

Wasn't she smarter?

"I don't…understand…" Kairi mumbled wretchedly into the skin of her arm.

She loved Sora and Riku.

Absolutely _adored_ them.

Sora with his happy grin, shining eyes, and warm personality.

Riku with his calm façade, unmatched intelligence, and warm embrace.

They were all she had.

All she wanted.

The only other person she could call her own was her grandmother, and sooner or later she would be gone.

Yuffie hadn't been on the island long, but just like that she was able to capture everyone's hearts? What was wrong with Kairi? Was she not…pretty enough? Tall enough?

Strong enough?

Because Yuffie could fight and act like a boy? Is that why she was so popular? Because she could be rude and sarcastic? Is that why she was so popular?

Kairi shifted her head upwards, just enough so she could see the tide shrinking away. After half an hour of this, Kairi got up, brushed the sand from her skirt, and went to find Riku and Sora.

Every time she did this her heart swelled with a hope that maybe the two had forgotten about Yuffie, dismissed her from their minds, and returned to normal exactly as they were when it was just the three of them.

It was a stupid hope.

Why does the heart torture itself with hope when the mind knows that it is fruitless? Why? Why?

When Kairi approached the other side of the island, she saw Sora sitting underneath the group of coconut trees, immersed in the cool shade, but obviously not enjoying it. He sat there, legs stretched out on the sand, staring at the raft with sad eyes.

After Yuffie left, their plans for setting sail had been put on hold indefinitely. In fact, Kairi was sure it was never going to happen. Not now. Not when the most important person was gone.

Sora looked at Kairi slowly when she approached, a small smile stretching across his face in a weak a greeting, and turned back toward the raft. Kairi sat down next to Sora, making an effort to seat herself close enough to where their shoulders touched. Sora, who once would have muttered a flustered apology and moved slightly to the side, did not react at all. He didn't even notice it.

"We can still go, you know," Kairi said to Sora, trying to keep her eyebrows from arching downward. "The raft is perfect. We can still go."

Sora sighed and shook his head. "No," he responded quietly. "Yuffie had to be there. She _had_ to be."

Kairi's heart pulsed with sadness and anger.

"And Riku," Sora continued, "he isn't…you know…_well_. He took Yuffie's leaving pretty hard. I never thought I'd see him like this. I don't know what to do or say to him to make him feel better." Sora, finally noticing how close Kairi was, shifted in the opposite direction and smoothed his hands across his lap, brushing off sand that wasn't there. "But then again, I'm not really in any position to be cheering anybody up. I just don't know why Yuffie left like that. I mean—I thought—" he turned to Kairi, a faint hint of desperation in his voice and in his eyes, "Didn't Yuffie like it here? Do you think she left because of us? Didn't she think we liked her?"

Kairi turned away from him, as she could not keep the grimace from her face, and said in a low and unsympathetic tone, "I don't know. Maybe Yuffie left because _she_ didn't like _us_."

"No," Sora's response was immediate, as if correcting a test question Kairi had gotten wrong. It made her even angrier. "Yuffie liked us. And we liked her. We were all friends."

"Not all of us," Kairi said accidentally.

Sora looked at her in surprise, not understanding, but the sound of heavy footsteps against the sand caught their attention.

Riku had approached, emotionlessly gazing out to sea. He probably knew Kairi and Sora were there, but he made no move to indicate their presence. They may have well have been two insignificant grains of sand.

"H-Hi, Riku!" Kairi called, waving with an unsure smile on her face.

Riku looked at her only briefly; mouth compressed in a straight line, than turned his attention to the raft. He took a few steps toward it and stopped. He stared at it without feeling, without fervor, without adventure sparkling in his eyes as they once would have been. Instead they narrowed, turning dark with hatred and despair.

Riku stalked past the raft and plucked his father's axe from a nearby log. His footsteps were slow, casual, and non-threatening, but when he approached the raft again, he gripped the axe with both hands a gave a single, violent swing, chopping the mast noisily in half, dislocating sail and the rope. Sora gave a startled cry and Kairi put her hands to her mouth in utter shock and fear.

Riku didn't look perturbed in the least. His face was calm and unmoving. He tossed the axe lightly aside, allowing its weight to bury itself in the soft sand, and walked away without a word.

When he was gone, Kairi turned to Sora in a whirl, desperately looking for some kind of reaction or explanation in his eyes, but Sora was staring at the broken mast lying in the sand. He gave a bitter smile and shook his head, his voice shaking slightly when he spoke. "Well, I guess we definitely can't go sailing now."

Sora told Kairi not to follow Riku, but she did anyway. She was deathly worried for him, and wanted to find a way to comfort him, even a little. After all, he loved her, so who would be more capable of consoling him than her?

It would take time…lots of time, but eventually Riku would come back around, smiling and joking like he always did, and sweep her up in his embrace once more. They'd done so before when Riku finally admitted that he'd loved her, and even though Riku got the wrong impression, Kairi allowed him to run with it. Anything to keep him by her side.

She didn't love Riku--not in that way--but…wait. Did she? Was it possible to feel this bad if she didn't love him? The ache in her heart was so strong it could have ripped her to pieces, but…that was only because he was her friend, right? But not just any friend; a dearly beloved childhood friend. Of course she'd panic when she thought she was losing him.

But…was that right?

Kairi slowed her sprint into a walk, stopping to consider things she'd never considered before.

Sora had always been more important to Kairi, but Riku was special to her too. Though Sora was the one she wanted, there was something between her and Riku that only they had. And though Kairi had once known what that something was, as of late all she'd been able to draw were blanks.

_Even so…_

Kairi sprinted forward again.

_I will not lose him._

_Either of them._

**//*************************************//Can You Guess?//*********************************//**

**Can anyone guess when Yuffie put the note in Riku's textbook?**

**I'll update right away if someone gives me the answer I'm looking for.**


	18. Poor Kairi

Poor Kairi

18

//--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------//

Kairi ducked under the small opening and crawled into the cave. She made sure to be as quiet and as stealthy as possible, just in case Riku was there. He was. Kairi peeked from around the opening, concealing herself, ready to duck away at a moments notice.

Riku was standing perfectly erect, back facing her, staring at the blank space on the wall where the door used to be.

Wait…

Used to be? Kairi parted her mouth in shock. Where was it? Doors don't just disappear! Did Riku take it down or something? Or maybe Yuffie did? But what would the point have been in that?

Riku stepped forward, reaching his hand out to stroke the cold, hard wall of the cave. The way he turned his head about made it seem as if he was looking for traces of the door, as if there was something significant that he was missing, as if it would reappear suddenly if he searched hard enough for it's roots.

Kairi stepped forward to ask what was wrong, but Riku suddenly brought his fist back and rammed it against the cave wall. Kairi stumbled back, covering her mouth to stifle a gasp.

Riku's fist hovered in place, unmoving, then he began to press his knuckles harder against the stone as if a hole of some sort would form, were he to continue. When nothing happened he brought his fist back again and hammered it against the same spot. He did this continuously, grunting loudly each time his fist made contact with the cave's cold, hard surface, blatantly ignoring what must have been a screaming amount of pain shooting through his arm.

_He'll break them! _Kairi shouted inwardly, absolutely petrified. _Stop it! Please!_

She was going to run over and stop him, but suddenly he collapsed against the wall, scraping his fingertips against the stone on his way down. His injured hand stay pressed against the surface while his other came down to grip his bangs furiously. He looked for all the world as if he might rip out the locks of hair stretching so tightly through his strong fingers, and yet he continued to grip harder.

A loud resonating sound escaped his crumpled form resembling something between to a scream and a sobbing shudder. A barrage of distorted breaths followed after with a mix of bitter laughs and a single-toned wails.

Kairi's heart tore with each sound he made. Never never never had she seen Riku react this way to anything, not even when they were kids and his father left home for the first time, and a tear slid down her cheek.

When it looked like Riku would start hammering his fist again the cave wall again Kairi rushed to his side and grabbed his wrist. "Riku!" she cried breathlessly, gasping sharply at the damage he'd done to his knuckles. There was a thick trail of blood sliding down his hand and winding around his arm like a trail of red liquid vines. The skin on his knuckles were raw and red and split open.

Kairi began to sob.

"Riku, please…"

Riku shoved her hand away from him so violently she stumbled on the ground. "Don't touch me!" he screamed at her.

Kairi was wide eyed and terrified with a stream of wretched tears coursing down her cheeks. "R-Riku…"

He stodd to his feet, hiding his face from her. Abruptly and sharply he turned his back on her and walked out of the cave. Kairi wanted to follow after him, but also didn't.

Gone. Riku was gone. She'd lost him.

Her sobs became louder, echoing off the barren walls of the empty cave. Not even the sweet toddler drawings of Sora and she could comfort her now.

_Poor Kairi…_

A voice rang inside of her. Kairi buried her tear-stained face in her hands, thinking she might be going crazy.

_Poor Kairi…_the voice droned again, this time with sympathy.

Suddenly Kairi was thrust into a void of light, bringing her to a number of points during her childhood. It was exactly like a movie, as if her were watching her life from a screen.

"Poor Kairi," a woman said. "She has no mother or father. Only her grandmother and who knows how long she has to live. The poor thing will be all alone soon…"

"Yes, Poor Kairi," another person agreed.

Another flashback. "Kairi, don't you have any friends yet?" someone--she couldn't see the person's face--asked with worry. "You poor thing. You must so lonely!"

Another flashback. This time it was of a young Sora and Riku--when she was new to the island and just met them.

_"My mom and dad are taking me to the festival tomorrow!" Little rosy-cheecked Sora exclaimed happily._

"_Yeah, I heard there's a discount for families," Little silver haired Riku added in with enthusiasm. "My mom and I are going with Sora and his parents. What about you, Kairi? Are you going with your mom and dad?"_

The pain she'd felt at that moment shot through her as if she were living through the moment again.

"_N-No…I-I don't have a mommy or daddy, and my gran is…she can't really move much anymore so I don't think she can…take me." _

"_Aw, really?" Sora replied with sympathy. _

"_Poor you. Maybe you can come with us than?" Riku offered with pity._

More voices from the past rang in her head like a giant bell.

"_Poor Kairi"_

"_Poor Kairi"_

"_Poor Kairi…"_

"Shut up!" Kairi shouted into the blaring nothingness of the cave. "Please stop!"

"_Poor Kairi…" _that same voice said again. It was deep and low like a male's. It was dark and menacing and…_sympathetic._

_You certainly are one for pity, aren't you young one? _The person remarked.

"N-No, I…" She drew her knees up to her chest and pressed her face against them. She clutched the side of her head as if there was a booming noise shooting through the room, causing her earlobes to bleed.

_Look at you. Look at how weak you are. Abandoned by your parents and now by your best friends._

"P-Please!"

_Poor thing._

"Shut up!"

_Poor Kairi…_

Kairi lifted her head and stared at the blank cave wall where the wooden door had once been.

She gasped in horror. It was glowing a violent mixture of menacing colors. It was a dark swirl of deep blue, dark purple, and blood red. Kairi staggered back on her hands and legs, crawling backwards to get away from it, when something--or someone--stepped out.

The person was clothed in a dark hood, completely masking his face. His posture was calm and casual, head turning about slowly to take in his surroundings, and finally he fixed his gaze upon Kairi. He took two steps forward and was right in front of her.

"My, my, look at what we have here," he said. It was indeed the voice who had been whispering inside her conscience.

"Wh-What do you want!" Kairi demanded, trying to sound threatening. The damp saltwater markings on her face and the terror in her eyes kept it from being at all effective, not that it would have been otherwise.

His face was hidden completely by shadows, both from the cave and his hood, but beneath a small flurry of his hair poking out from underneath, she could make out a wicked smile.

"Poor Kairi," he said once more in the resonating bass of his voice. He reached a hand out toward her, palm facing upward in a welcoming gesture, and said politely, "My dear princess, it looks like you could use a hand."

**//***********************************//Can You Guess?//********************************//**

**Alright, you guys gave your best answers, but no one gave me the one I was looking for. Some of you were close, but not quite there. **

**hibiscus. and. roses and Aoi-Butterfly were the closest (way to go!).**

**Here is the answer:**

**When some of you said that Yuffie would have to have hidden the note after she found the door was correct. So it had to be after that, which was chapter 7, and before chapter 9 which was after he found the note. That means the answer was hidden in chapter 8. Here is a direct excerpt from that chapter.**

_**Trig was the last class of the day, and on this day Riku's class had taken a test. It was too easy for Riku, so he'd finished much earlier than everyone. Every day before a test Riku would study at home, memorizing everything that needed to be memorized, and though it proved to be more of a taxing job than usual since Yuffie was there bothering him the whole time, he still managed to answer every question on the test as if he'd memorized a cheat sheet.**_

**Do you see it now? Riku had had a trig test that day, and since he was studying for that same test the day before, he would have had to have had his book with him. And since Yuffie _'was there bothering him the whole time'_ she could have easily slipped the note in his text book then when he wasn't looking. You see? Most of you put that she did it while Riku was asleep, but in actuality she did it right in front of him! There was a reason it was in his trig book and not some other book. It could have been any other text book, but it was his trig book she chose because that was the one he was using at the time.**

**Another Easter Egg revealed! Never doubt the powers of a ninja!**


	19. Move

Move

19

//----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------//

Kairi had been gone for a while now. She'd followed Riku even though Sora told her not too, but then again, he'd made no move to stop her. Sora knew Riku wouldn't be cooperative when she tried to sooth him since he was never one to submit to condolences, but there was a part of Sora that hoped that maybe…just this once, it would work.

Sora doubted it though. If there was anything Riku loved more than sparring, it was enjoying his space. Sometimes Sora felt that Riku didn't even like having Kairi and he around; as if he'd only resign to friendship to slake an instant of loneliness. Sora didn't like that thought. Because if that was true, Kairi and he were nothing more than tools to him.

No…Riku wasn't like that. Yuffie had hurt him deeply by leaving, no matter what the reason (Riku didn't tell them anything about it), and because of this, had changed. But even as Riku was hurting to such a degree, so was Sora. Not only because Yuffie had left without even saying so much as a goodbye to him, but because Riku wouldn't come to either of his friends for support. For comfort.

Wasn't that what friends were for? Riku had always been an independent griever, but if things were as bad as this shouldn't he have at least said something? The despair was plain on his face, but it might have done him so internal good to say it out loud.

Sora rose to his feet and leaned against a coconut tree. He stared at the sand for a minute or two and sighed.

This was stupid.

This had been going on for days now. Or to be more accurate, not going on. Nobody was doing anything. Nothing was moving. Nothing was…progressing. Something was happening to the trio's friendship, and Riku was at the heart of it all. Perhaps if Riku were to pick himself up, than things might start moving again, or at the very least, seem a bit better.

Sora stepped away from the coconut tree, giving the broken raft once last look, and headed over to the other side of the island.

When Sora finally found Riku he was less than surprised to see him sitting by his lonesome, staring out into the dull horizon beyond the sea that was once anything but dull. The silver haired teen was perched on the arched trunk of the paopu tree, nestled farther from the ground than usual, drinking in the strangely sluggish waves of the sea as if he hoped they might swallow him whole.

Sora stalked forward, purposely making noise against the sand, but Riku didn't even turn to see who it was. Sora came to an abrupt stop behind him on the wooden bridge, glaring at Riku's back with unconcealed blame and disapproval. Sora drew his brows together in an expression of anger. "What are you doing?" he demanded in a tone he'd never used before. It was hard and unfriendly, demanding and fed up. It was obvious that sympathy and space wasn't getting anywhere anymore.

"I'm talking to you, Riku."

Riku said nothing for a long stretch, allowing the breeze from the coast to sail through their ears as if allowing it to answer for him, until finally he spoke. His voice was emotionless and drone; not friendly, but not unfriendly either. Just…a voice.

"What is it…Sora?"

"I asked what you're doing," Sora said with abnormal and unfamiliar superiority.

"Isn't it obvious?" Riku replied flatly. "I am…sitting here like I always am. What's the big deal?"

"You know what I mean!" Sora didn't want to raise his voice, but his self restraint was fleeting. He was losing patience with his friend, and it went far beyond pouting over a lost match. Sora had always tried his best to match Riku's calm exterior, as this made him intimidating and admirable to his peers, Kairi included, but this time things were different. This wasn't Riku's usual calm.

This was…lifelessness.

"Riku, this isn't like you! Look at yourself! Moping, sulking, saying nothing and doing nothing, avoiding everyone; turning away from Kairi and turning away from me. You don't ask for help, you won't tell us what happened, you won't even go home! This isn't helping anything and definitely not helping yourself. Look at what's happened to you…Why won't you say anything?!"

"Do you…think you can help me?" Riku asked monotonously, but with a bitter edge. "You think you can fix something? You think I can just all of a sudden forget about everything and start smiling like an idiot?"

"I'm not telling you to do any of those things, Riku! I'm telling you to stop acting like this! I'm telling you to--"

"Cheer up?" Riku interrupted with a harsh laugh. "That's just like you, Sora."

"Riku--"

"It's not just me, you know. Everyone is effected. Selphie, Tidus, Wakka, and my mom. You don't know what it's like going home, Sora. You don't know what it's like watching your mom cry to herself every night when she thinks you've gone to bed, you don't know what it's like having to stand there and do nothing. Because you can't do anything. Mother feels as if she's lost a child, as if her own daughter has abandoned her, and there is nothing I can do or say to offer any comfort. And how can I, Sora? With how I am right now?" Riku turned around to glare at Sora. His voice was calm and patient. "You tell me that."

"It…it doesn't matter if you can or can't do anything…" Sora searched hard for words, creating pauses and breaks in his voice. "What matters is that you try to do something. You can't just…do nothing. That's the worst thing you can do."

Sora didn't continue, waiting for Riku to make a reply. Waiting for him to agree. He didn't.

"Get out of here, Sora," he said. "Just leave me alone."

Sora raised his head high, switching from a look of hurt to one of determination…and anger. He took one long stride forward and jumped up to slam his fist into the back of Riku's head.

Riku fell forward off the tree trunk, landing almost exactly on the edge of the platform and plummeting into the ocean water. He clenched his teeth furiously, grabbing the back of his throbbing skull and jumped to his feet, spinning toward Sora with a look of boiling rage. "What the hell was that for?!" he shouted in fury, pain instantly forgotten.

Sora hated to have to resort to this, but the anger Riku was feeling now was better than not feeling anything at all. "You're pathetic, Riku," Sora said, trying his best to hide the regret in his words. The anger in Riku's faced was replaced with shock, and he removed his hand from the back of his head to let it fall at his side. "If you're so upset, why don't you do something?" Sora continued. "Get up and find a solution instead of moping around like this. I…" Sora squeezed his eyes and shook his head. "I miss Yuffie too, Riku!"

Riku stared at Sora with a strange expression; one that matched the strange feeling in his chest, but it fled, replaced once again by chronic despair and helplessness. "There's…there's nothing I can do, Sora. I'm stuck here, just like you. I can never see Yuffie again."

Sora's eyebrows dipped in sorrow, then arched as a look of determination and resolution burst aflame in his heart. "No, I don't believe that. I can't," he said. "There's always a way, Riku, I know it. Maybe you've given up, but I haven't. You can easily say there's not a way when you haven't even tried! Because it's better than the disappointment of trying and failing. You're just afraid, but I'm not. I'll find a way to bring Yuffie back no matter what!"

A burst of light shot through the sky at that moment, streaking through the thin clouds and purging the air. The ocean blazed a magnificent orange and yellow while a flurry of what looked like golden snow swept over the ground. It all came and disappeared within a matter of seconds, and when the sky had faded back to it's original color, Riku and Sora looked at each other in bewilderment and confusion.

"Wh-What was that?" cried Sora.

"I…don't know…" Riku responded quietly, voice frosted with wonder and awe. He took several steps toward the lip of the paopu isle between two coconut trees and gazed out into the ocean, searching for an explanation. Sora joined him, wildly looking about in all directions, then knelt over the side to get a closer inspection of the ocean water.

"Excuse me, fellas," a pleasantly unfamiliar voice addressed from behind them. "I'm lookin' for someone and I was wondering if you might'a seen him. Haha, or _her_, of course." Riku and Sora turned sharply with Sora almost falling off the side, but Riku broke his daze for half a second to catch and steady him.

Standing before them was a very short figure with big round ears and long snout. His eyes were big and oval shaped, possessing a kindness the likes of which either of them had never seen. It…he…was a mouse, it seemed, wearing a bright red and black jacket with the shoes to match.

In his hand was a long golden…key. It glowed spectacularly, pulsing in his hand as if it were alive. Riku recognized the key. It looked exactly like the one he'd lost to Yuffie.

Riku tried to get a grip on himself as a relentless number of thoughts and realizations came rushing at him at once. The same ones Sora himself were thinking. This person, or rather, this mouse, must be from another world! And if he was from another world…

"Wh-Who are you?" Sora stammered when Riku did not say anything.

"Oh, pardon me!" The mouse replied with a giggle. "I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Mickey. King Mickey." The mouse gave an emphasized swing of his key as a greeting, causing the sparkling golden metal to glitter and shine in the sun. "Nice to meet ya!"

**//*****************************//A/N #6//******************************//**

**Long time and short chapter, I know I know, no need to swear at me. I'll try to be quicker, but I've been busy learning how to use photoshop. **

**Man, it's hard. Especially since I'm teaching myself. Root for me…**


	20. Welcome Back

Welcome Back

20

//-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------//

"Yuffie!" Aeris cried with emotion.

Leon, Cloud, Merlin, and Sid immediately broke their concentration on whatever they were doing and whirled in her direction. Yuffie came through the door feeling tired and worn, but she erected her shoulders, puffed out her chest, and beamed everyone a radiant and energetic smile.

"Hey everyone! Long time no see!"

Aeris jumped out of her seat and ran to her with arms open wide. "Yuffie, what happened?" She cried, pulling the lanky ninja into an embrace. "You were gone for so long! We thought…" Aeris let go, still holding Yuffie by the shoulders and stared into her eyes. She looked very much overwhelmed at first, then eased her frown into a relieved smile.

Leon took casual steps toward her, seemingly in no rush, but there were a good number of unreadable emotions mixing on his face. He reached past Aeris and flicked Yuffie in her forehead good and hard.

"Ow! Hey!" Yuffie shouted, turning on him with angry eyes. "Is that any way to treat me after so long?"

Aeris stepped back to give Leon room, smiling contentedly at the two's rekindled banter.

"And where the hell have you been?" Leon asked smoothly, despite Yuffie's fiery outburst. Just like old times. Though his voice was calm and collected, there was a tint of both anger and overwhelming relief. He pushed his face close to hers, trying to get a direct look her into her eyes, but Yuffie--very much like a child--pouted and turned away to avoid his stares. Leon edged closer with persistence, narrowing his eyes suspiciously and said, "You do realize it's been over three months, don't you? Just what the hell have you been doing?"

"Stuff," was Yuffie's simple reply.

Leon opened his mouth as if he was about to shout something, but he merely pulled back and shook his head. He sighed, brushing the thin brown locks out of his eyes, and turned around to go back to helping Sid by the computer. "Nothing but trouble," he muttered under his breath and took a seat in an office chair, deliberately spinning his back toward her.

"Oh, Leon…" Aeris sighed. Cloud observed from the far wall, staring at Yuffie while Merlin approached her, waving his hands in a welcoming greeting.

"Ah, welcome back Yuffie!" he said in that old grandfatherly way of his. Yuffie had missed it. "Thought you'd have landed yourself in trouble there. Things have gotten out of hand somewhat in the past few days and we thought you--"

"_Somewhat?" _Cloud and Leon butted in simultaneously. Leon's voice possessed a blatant sarcastic edge while Cloud's retained a level of curiosity mixed in with a hint of sarcasm.

"Things have been a downright mess," Sid explained gruffly, sliding his cigarette from one side of his mouth to the other. "Heartless have started popping up everywhere causin' all kindza hell. The meteor shower happened just as we predicted and now the worlds have all been thrown into a calamity."

"I know," Yuffie replied with a small sigh. "I ran into a lot of em' on my way here. Exactly what's been going on?"

"Malifacent," Cloud and Leon answered harmonically.

"Oh," Yuffie responded with exasperated anger. "So figures."

"The King has already taken action," Aeris came in informatively. "He's been searching the Galaxy for weeks, looking for clues and searching for Ansem's missing journal entries. He knew about this months in advance before we did and when the stars started disappearing he finally sent us a notice. He's sent us messages informing us of his progress but so far no one's been able to locate him. We have no idea where he is and most of the information we have is what we get from him."

Leon turned to face Yuffie, waving a piece of expensive looking parchment in his hand. "He says his special Knights, Goofy and Donald, are on their way and that they're searching for the 'Keyblade Master.'"

Yuffie couldn't hold back a twitch in her eye at the mention of the Keyblade Master. Her heart have a single, violent pound against her chest which she fought to ignore. Leon noticed of course, and perhaps Cloud, but everyone else seemed oblivious.

"And what have they found?" Yuffie asked carefully, knowing very well she should have faked a carefree and unconcerned tone.

"Nothing yet," Cloud answered. "They've only just started. The two of them will probably come here first to talk to Leon, but until then we'll have to keep a lookout as well."

"Oh," Yuffie said, trying to hide her relief. "What do we know about Malifacent so far?"

"Only that she's been kidnapping girls from all over the Galaxy," Leon said.

"Huh?" Yuffie cocked her head to the side.

"But not just any worlds," Aeris explained. "She only kidnaps girls from particular worlds, and though we know which worlds they are, we have no idea what they have in common."

"The same holds true for the missing girls," Leon added. "The only thing we know about them is that they all happen to be young; our age and a bit older."

"Ah, but the King knows this too," Merlin said, waving a finger in the air. "As we speak he's out investigating why."

"Things would be so much easier if that damn 'Keyblade Master' or whoever the hell he is would just show up already," Sid commented with a tired shake of his head. "I can make Gummi ships like nobody's business, but without someone to fly em' they're pretty much useless."

"So in other words," Yuffie concluded, "we're at a stand still."

There was along silence in the room but eventually they all nodded their heads in conformation. Yuffie sighed. "Crap."

"There's another problem too," Leon interjected seriously. Yuffie raised her head, looking at him intently. "We don't know the full details yet," he continued, "but from what we've been able to observe there are more problems than just the one's Malifacent have been causing."

"What do you mean?" Yuffie asked.

"Guys in black cloaks," Cloud interjected casually, staring at the floorboards as if looking right through them. His voice was quiet and calm as always, making whatever he was saying not seem like a big deal, but Yuffie got the nagging suspicious it really was. "We don't know who they are," he pressed on, "but we know they're dangerous."

"Very," Leon added. "We don't know what their connection is with Ansem either, so right now we're trying to find out."

"Wow," Yuffie commented slowly. "Sounds like we've got a lot on our plate. This is way too much work for us to handle alone."

"And don't think you're getting out of it," Leon said with authority. "You have a lot of making up to do with how long you've been gone, and I don't want to hear any complaints out of you."

Everyone waited for Yuffie to snap back, but instead she narrowed her eyes at him and smirked. "You know Leon, did anyone ever tell you that you're my _favorite_?"

"Shut up and get to work," he replied flatly with a hint of irritation.

A multitude of screams erupted from outside the and everyone's attention snapped into focus.

"Looks like they're at it again, damn monsters," said the old man with the cigarette in his mouth.

"Looks like it," Leon and Cloud replied together.

Leon rose from his seat and snapped his gunblade from it's sheath. Cloud merely stepped away from the wall, uncrossing his arms, and Aeris stepped aside to let them pass.

"Well, this old man's still gotta a few tricks up his tunic," Merlin said with a slight laugh, flipping his sleeves back. "My magic's not gone yet."

Yuffie edged away from the door to let him pass, grinning at the man's back. "Don't trip over your beard, old man," she teased.

"Young little runts," Merlin mumbled in response while exiting into the third district.

Cloud was next. "Good to have you back, Yuffie," he said, ruffling her hair in the passing. Yuffie wasn't sure, but she thought there was a smile hidden behind that annoying red scarf of his. She smiled back at him, grinning at his retreating figure. "Cloud…"

Leon was last, and before heading out himself, grabbed Yuffie by the arm. "You better not be rusty," he said with a serious edge and dragged her out without restraint.

"Be careful you guys!" Aeris called after them.

She folded her hands across her chest delicately and smiled.

**//*******************************//A/N #8//************************************//**

**Well, looks like I've got some explainin to do, huh? To clear things up, I'm mixing KH1 and KH2 together. Right now they're still in Traverse Town and their base is in the abandoned house in the third district (Sid has a computer there). Risky, I know, but I think it'll be interesting to see how the two plots work together.**

**Haha, don't worry. I know what I'm doing.**


	21. Call

Call

21

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"What's wrong with your friend?" asked Mickey with concern.

Sora sat with the warrior mouse on the edge of the Paopu platform and watched the sea foam brush up against the base, occasionally glancing up to see the ocean sleeping on the horizon. Sora knocked his heels against the little plateau and pressed his weight upon his palms, leaning back on his hands. He turned to Mickey and said, "I don't really know what he's thinking, not that I ever do, but for now I think it's just best to leave him by himself. Riku has been through a lot lately, and though I don't really know what's going on, I think he might at least have more of a clue than me."

Sora and Mickey took a peek at Riku who was, at present, sitting on the dock at the far side of the island staring intently at his right arm. He avoided looking at his friend and the mouse, or rather, completely ignored them all together, or perhaps even forgot they were there, but either way he never stole a glance in their direction. Sora was becoming worried, but was somehow strangely relieved, because there was a spark of hope that maybe Riku was actually taking the time to think things over finally, and wasn't just wallowing in the sand anymore.

Lightly Riku brushed his fingertips along his once broken arm, submerging himself in the pleasant, yet painful memory of Yuffie's high elixir hugging the cracked bones in his arm, messaging and healing, filling him with warmth. And then there was Yuffie, smiling at him with expectant eyes, sparkling with excitement like an explorer who'd finally come across his long awaited treasure. Riku did not know how he hadn't seen it before. The Keyblade…Master…she'd been looking for him…and finally found him.

The second she'd found her way home she did whatever she could to make it there, even if that meant using him.

Why?

With Mickey here, the supposed King, there was no doubt he'd finally be able to make his way off the island, perhaps find Yuffie and take her back, but what would the point be in that when she probably would never go? Yes…Riku wanted Yuffie back…more than anything in the world right now, but how much does that matter when she herself had spent extraordinary efforts in trying to get away from him in the first place?

Thinking back on everything Riku realized just how embarrassingly stupid and naïve he had been. A raft? A sail? Was he mad? Did he really think he'd be able to get anywhere on such an incompetent makeshift vessel? Yuffie had known all along…about everything. Riku hated thinking about her. The image of her face in his mind cut through him…saddened him beyond reason…and infuriated him.

In their last moments together all Riku remembered himself thinking was _don't go. _

_Don't go don't go don't go_…and she went. And what were her last words?

"_I just wanted you to know…the time we've spent together…I didn't dislike it." _

Riku replayed this scene in his head over and over again, listening to that same sentence until is was no more than a drone of an echo. He racked his brain over it as if it were some sort of puzzle, as if it were some kind of secret coding, like there was a hidden message in those words that far exceeded the understatement of her miniscule farewell, and the more Riku thought about it, the less likely it seemed.

He chuckled to himself as one does when they laugh at their own stupidity. What was he expecting? For her to say _"I love you?"_

Riku's chuckle morphed into a raspy laugh that scraped against the wind instead of riding with it as it usually did--like it used to when Yuffie joined in--and Riku dragged his fingers so roughly against his arm they left swelling lines of pink skin. It didn't hurt at all.

The only other explanation was her using him. That made more sense than anything he'd been able to come up with thus far. Their meeting was completely by chance, but she used it to her advantage, bought herself an excuse to stick around, then left the second she was able.

Riku thought of all the times they'd spent together; all the insults they'd exchanged, the jokes, the festivals they'd attended, the dinners at home, and yes…even their fights. Every single memory was pain for him. No girl besides Kairi had ever refused him before, but this went far beyond his inflated male egoism. This was utter betrayal.

And that's what it'd come down to. All the confusing thoughts, the memories, the conflictions, all filtered out into one word.

Betrayal.

Betrayal.

And another question…

_What to do now?_

Sora looked up in surprise when Riku was suddenly standing over them. "Sorry about that," he apologized when he'd finally come to join them. He smoothed a handful of silver spikes behind his ear only to have them fall around his eyes again upon his release. "Aw, that's okay," Mickey said, jumping to his feet. "Have a lot to think about?"

"Yeah…" Riku said with a slight drag in his voice. He smiled at the ground, shoving his hands into his pockets, and though he wasn't looking at Sora, Riku could see him staring at the pink scratch marks on his arm. Sora didn't question it. "So…what were you thinking about?" he asked with concern. Sora shuffled back, bringing his feet up in front of him, then spun to face Riku, crossing his legs Indian style.

"Stuff," Riku told him. Only because Sora already knew. "And the two of you?"

Mickey looked at Sora, then looked up into Riku's eyes and said, "Well I hear you're the _Keyblade Master_. That is what you told me, right? Is that true, Riku?

Riku himself wasn't sure. When Mickey inquired about the Keyblade Master, Riku told him only what he thought, but clearly indicated he wasn't sure. Riku had mixed feelings about telling Mickey everything, since there was a good chance he'd draw his own conclusions about Yuffie and himself, but…

"Mickey, how did you know Riku was here? I mean, the Keyblade Master?" Sora asked.

Mickey stretched a smile over his face and swiped his arm through the air, retrieving his sparkling Keyblade like the snap of a whip. "_He_ told me," the mouse king said proudly.

"Told you?" Sora asked with a tilt of his head. Riku didn't question Mickey at all. He knew exactly what he was talking about. When the keyblade first made it's way into Riku's hand he only knew because it announced it's own appearance.

The keyblade is exactly like a living thing, a weapon with a pulse and a conscience of it's own, and a being certainly capable of choosing it's own master.

"Keyblades are just like people," Mickey explained. "In a way they share relationships with each other and even seem to have their own opinions about each different one. When a keyblade encounters another that it likes, it glows, producing warm, ticklish vibes, almost like it's excited, and calls out to it like a long lost friend. That's how I found you, Riku."

Mickey turned to Riku who was, at the moment, engrossed in Mickey's explanation every bit as much as Sora. Riku blinked at Mickey in surprise, shocked that his Keyblade had such characteristics. "Bit when I got here," Mickey continued in puzzlement, "my keyblade stopped calling and became silent. Your keyblade was nowhere to be found, Riku, so where did it go? That's what I'm trying to figure out."

Riku looked at the ground without emotion. He squinted his eyes at the white stone and squeezed his fists together inside his baggy pockets. Rarely did Riku ever relax his fingers, and when he did, only did so because the skin stretching over his knuckles were exhausted and turning white. He pulled them from his pants, allowing them to hang at his sides, and lifted his head to look Mickey in the eyes.

_Was_ he the keyblade master? Yes, the keyblade appeared to him and even spoke to him, but was it on purpose or by accident? He'd had the keyblade, yes, but all of two seconds before Yuffie took it from him. When Yuffie left, the brief connection between the keyblade and himself had snapped, disappeared, and Riku wasn't sure if he would ever see it again.

Did that make Yuffie the real keyblade master?

"I…" Riku began. "I lost it."

Mickey looked bewildered, as did Sora. This would have been the first time he was hearing this, since Riku never told him anything about Yuffie's departure, but now Riku figured he'd have to hear about it. He would have learned the truth sooner or later anyways.

So Riku told them. He told them about Yuffie's set up, about the door, about the note, about their meeting, and about her goodbye. What he did not mention was the kiss they shared, the single memory that was more than anything else, like the deep puncture of a sword. He also neglected to label her set up as an act of betrayal, and left the two of them to draw their own lines to that conclusion. Perhaps they would draw lines elsewhere, to a different conclusion than the one he'd come up with, but with how hard Riku had been thinking things over he doubted there was any other possible explanation.

"Yuffie did that?" Sora exclaimed, leaping to his feet. "She really went through that door?"

Riku nodded.

"That's impossible! I can't believe it…" Sora whispered to himself. "There was really something like that on _our_ island?"

"That must have been the door to this world then," Mickey said. Sora and Riku stared at him, thrusting questions at him with their eyes. He continued. "Every world has a door that leads to the Universe," he said. "But only one. I don't know if it's a coincidence that the door happened to be located on the birth place of the Keyblade Master, but maybe this only serves as further proof that you're the one. What the keyblade master does is lock those doors, securing the safety of that world."

"Why would the Keyblade Master need to lock them?" Riku asked before Sora could get a word out.

"So that heartless are unable to trespass into that world."

"Heartless?" Sora questioned.

"Monsters born from darkness. They steal people's hearts and destroy whole worlds. The final duty of the Keyblade Master is ridding all worlds of them."

"_Don't worry, they won't attack here. Once this door closes again, it will lock and disappear…" _Yuffie's voice suddenly echoed in Riku's ears.

So…she knew? About the heartless? Everything Mickey is telling them now…she knew about all of that? But what did that mean? Does that mean she really wanted the Keyblade to protect them?

No…no, that isn't it. If anything sealing the keyhole was only an act of compensation, as a way to make amends for her betrayal. Or maybe it was just to show off her skills as the new Keyblade Master. But what if it wasn't? Riku was getting confused again.

No…Betrayal. Only betrayal would make his heart shake with so much anger. Whether or not Yuffie was trying to protect him, whether or not she meant any harm, the fact remains that she had left him after saying she would stay. And that all by itself was a betrayal.

"So does this mean Yuffie is the Keyblade Master?" Sora asked Mickey. Riku sharpened his attentiveness, waiting for an answer.

"Gosh, it's hard to say," Mickey said, shaking his head at the ground. His ears were like two huge circular fans, and with every shake of his head a breeze would whip across the white stone, stroking the small strands of vegetation growing in between the cracks. "The Keyblade appeared in Riku's hand, but Yuffie was the one who wound up taking it with her. If Riku was really the Keyblade Master he'd be able to call it back to him."

All eyes were on Riku now.

"Well, Riku?" Sora asked expectantly. "Have you tried calling it back?"

Riku, slightly at a loss, turned from him to Mickey and said, "No. I haven't."

"Well," Mickey perked up. "Why not give it a shot?"

"But how do I--"

"Just call it. If the Keyblade has chosen you as it's master it will answer you. But you must use your heart to do it, because that is how a Keyblade speaks. Through the heart of it's master. You have to see the keyblade in your mind, feel it in your hand; it's just like imagining yourself reuniting with an old friend."

Riku did as he was told. Riku was too preoccupied with Yuffie at the time to really get a good enough look at the keyblade, but he remembered it's brilliant silver glow. He stared hard at his hand, contracting and retracting his fingers, feeling the warm, life-possessing steel in his grasp, and called inwardly, _Come. _

He kept trying to imagine the keyblade in his hand, fighting with it, destroying monsters, and continuously called in his mind, _Come to me._

But every time he imagined this, it was not really the keyblade he saw, but Yuffie. Uttering the words made him think of her, of Yuffie stretching her hand toward him, offering him her palm so that he in turn, could take it and draw her into his chest.

_Come…come…_Riku whispered despairingly inside his mind. He tried with all his heart to reach out to the keyblade, or rather, to it's wielder, and one last time called, _Please come to me. Please come back…_

Nothing.

**//*******************************//a/n//****************************//**

**Damn, where have I been, right?**


	22. Dark

Dark

22

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Mickey had a brilliantly colorful spacecraft which he called a "gummi ship." Sora regarded it with wonder, transfixed on the strange designs, the feel of the material, and most of all, the gun cannons. Mickey called it out of the ocean when their conversation was put on hold and they were certain Riku would not be able to summon the Keyblade to him. At least at that moment. While Sora marveled at the king's spacecraft, Riku strayed away, disappointment gripping his chest. Why feel so horribly let down? It wasn't like Riku to cling feverishly to such unattainable hopes; hopes such as summoning the keyblade and it's wielder together at the same time. Like if one were to come, the other would follow, for the Keyblade and it's master were inseparable, but maybe it was this that rendered his efforts useless. If Yuffie wouldn't come, neither would the Keyblade.

Riku stayed silent about the matter, but Sora made the suggestion that perhaps Yuffie was indeed the long-awaited Keyblade Master since Riku was unable to connect with it. This didn't really do much to sway Mickey's opinion, however. He was still in question about the whole matter and didn't want to jump to conclusions. Riku did, at some point afterwards, get the feeling Mickey was gazing at him from time to time as if he'd expected something out of the boy. It was obvious that the mouse king still thought Riku was the Keyblade Wielder, even though he had no proof of this, and Riku thought him to be a fool because of it.

Riku was no Keyblade Master. The Keyblade Master saved worlds, saved lives, and Riku…he couldn't even do something so simple as to keep his most important person by his side. And after the way he treated Kairi and Sora he was no friend. He wasn't even a good son. In Mai's time of grieving he could do nothing to help her. He couldn't even help himself. Riku had always been the strongest person he knew, but lately he'd begun to question that. Even Sora, the air-headed gullible kid who used to follow him around and ask for help on his math homework, had shown more backbone than Riku.

When had Sora become so much more…reliable than him? So much more responsible? So much stronger?

Riku looked at his open palms as if they were foreign to him. Yuffie…what had she done to him?

Or maybe this was how Riku always was…Perhaps he had always been this weak. There was just never any situation which put his character to the test.

All Riku had ever thought about was leaving; leaving the island. This island which was so much like a cage, like a prison. A heavy restraint on his soul, a soul that was always desperate and needing. Needing to be free. And what of it now? What of his heart now? With how utterly damaged and broken it was, how did anyone ever expect it to be able to maintain the strength needed to save the entire world? The Universe even!

Riku almost laughed at the thought. It all sounded so stupid.

But…what of Yuffie? Even if Riku did have the Keyblade at first, he didn't have it now. It was with Yuffie. So does that mean she's the new Keyblade Master? And what did that mean? Saving the world…the Universe…something so incredibly big and unpredictable…was Yuffie going to protect it? All by herself?

Surely such a tremendous task came with unimaginable dangers, and if that was true, did that mean Yuffie could be _killed_?

Riku almost gasped at the weight of it. He clutched the fabric of his shirt over the spot where his heart throbbed with pain and anxiety.

_Yuffie could die? _He thought in horror.

And all by herself?

_No…_Riku thought quickly. _No, don't think that. You don't care about her. She's the one that betrayed _you_, remember? Remember?! _

Still, this thought stuck with him. Surely…surely the Keyblade Master would have companions. Surely someone as great as the savior of the Universe would have friends, would have people willing to help, to fight alongside her. But…this also made Riku angry.

Very angry. Unreasonably angry.

Yuffie…_his_ Yuffie, running around with people he didn't know, making friends with people who could, perhaps one day, stab her in the back and lead to her undoing. Or no…it wasn't even as complex as that.

It was just the thought of her being protected by another _man. _

The thought of her _needing_ and _wanting_ another man for whatever reason…made Riku hot with rage.

_My job…_he thought heatedly. _Protecting Yuffie is my job!_

But this confused Riku.

Yuffie betrayed him. Why want to protect someone who's already betrayed you? Why want to protect someone who worked so incredibly hard to run away from you? Why want someone…who didn't want you back?

But underneath all his rage, his wanting, his sadness, was _fear_. Blatant fear. The fear that, if worse came to worse, Yuffie would indeed…die.

The thought of Yuffie dying…hurt Riku. It _hurt_. Yes, Yuffie said they'd never meet again, but…never meeting again because of her death? As long as she was alive there was always always _always_ a possibility, no matter how tiny, how miniscule, that one day they might meet again, but if Yuffie were to die…than there was absolutely no chance at all. Their separation would be indefinite, etched in stone and signed with her blood.

Sure there was a possibility of meeting in the after life, if there was such a thing, but since Yuffie and he were from different worlds did that mean their death would result in different heavens? Different hells? Would, even in death, they never be able to see each other?

The finality of their separation…there was no word, no sentence, no phrase, that could describe such a feeling…the feeling of this…_agony._

Something sharp and unpleasant lurched inside Riku's chest, making him crumble to the wooden planks on the dock.

"Ah…!" He gasped silently. Quickly Riku reached for the edge of the dock with his hand, grasping the side to steady himself.

What was this? The pain was sharp and painful, but stayed to linger, hovering inside his chest. His heart, it pulsed with pain. Riku tried to silent his breathing so he could think, and when concentrating, felt electrifying spasms in his rib cage. It was both physical and mental. Riku closed his eyes, trying to calm down, and saw a violent flash of darkness shoot through his vision. It startled him so terribly he almost lost his balance and slipped off the edge.

That's when he noticed the dock was one boat short.

Kairi's boat. It was missing.

This tiny development served as a brief and painless distraction from his current condition.

When had Kairi gone home? Riku remembered shoving her away with blind force, so horrifically ungentlemanly of him, and stalked away. His last image of her was the broken, hunched over figure of her sobbing on the ground.

And she'd only tried to help him.

Riku was so sick with himself he couldn't think. Some friend he turned out to be. Kairi… the girl he'd once loved, or maybe still loved--it was too confusing for words--but someone he treasured, and still did, nonetheless. If Yuffie had stuck around, would he have would up treating her as badly?

Is that why she left?

Maybe Yuffie did indeed leave because of him. Because he was wretched.

"Riku!" a voice called from behind him.

Sora was suddenly there, feet on the sand and arms draped over the dock. He stared at his friend with worry swimming in his eyes. "Riku, you suddenly fell to the ground and gripped your chest like you were having a heart attack or something! Are you okay?"

Riku wanted to laugh.

Sora…the weakling. The annoying optimist. The saint. Worrying about _him,_ Riku, someone who was supposed to be a friend. Would he wind up betraying Sora one day too? Would he hurt him the way he'd hurt Kairi? Turn him away as he did Yuffie? Or would Sora too one day leave on his own?

Would everybody one day…leave him?

"I'm fine, Sora," Riku reassured with a chuckle and a toss of his head. He brushed the locks from his eyes, a gesture he usually did when making a point or reasserting is casualness.

He stood to his feet and looked over at Kairi's empty spot, the spot where her boat was always docked.

"Did you see Kairi leave?" Riku asked Sora.

"Huh?" Sora jumped on dock with Riku, planting his knees on the wood, and crawled over to the opposite side, leaning over to see the empty section of water. "Her boat's gone," he said.

Riku nodded. "I made her upset today," Riku stated with certainty. "It's no surprise she left."

"Made her upset?" Sora asked. "You mean you two had a fight?" Sora stood to his feet and brushed off some sand that'd been clinging to his shorts. "You two never fight. I mean like, _ever_. Usually it's just you and me that fight. I told Kairi before not to follow you, because it seemed you were upset and needed to be by yourself, but she did anyway. What happened?"

"Just as I told you," Riku said seriously, much less light-hearted than before. "I made her upset. I yelled at her."

"You did?" Sora asked in bewilderment. He opened his mouth wide as if he were about to say something, but instead glanced over at Kairi's empty space. "I…I don't really know what to do about that," Sora admitted dejectedly. Riku felt a pang of guilt, hearing his tone. "Usually you two have always been the most mature, the two that could always figure anything out," Sora said, " no matter how big the problem, so I don't really know what to do when you're…arguing with eachother. It's never happened before."

Riku said nothing. What could he say to that?

"Will you guys…be alright?" Sora asked, turning to Riku expectantly.

"Yes, you sap, of course we will," Riku responded instantaneously. "We always are."

Yes…he'd told Kairi that before too, and look how things ended up. Riku had always been the loner type, the type to figure out his problems all on his own without anyone's help, and if one day he perhaps…wound up losing all his friends because of it, or for any reason, he wouldn't be the least bit surprised.

Sora gave Riku a smile of comprehension, which he returned, and together they looked towards the beach to see Mickey waving at them.

"He told me to go see what was wrong," Sora said happily. "He seems like he really cares."

"Well, a king's gotta care for his subjects," Riku said. "I think we can trust him."

"Yeah, I think so too!" Sora agreed.

***-*-*-*-*-*-***

Sora lay in bed that night; thinking of Kairi, thinking of Riku, thinking of Mickey, and thinking of Yuffie. Yuffie, the one who could possibly be the Keyblade Master, the savior of the worlds.

It was all too much to possibly be real. Sora had always wanted his life to be more adventurous, and now that it was really happening, he couldn't believe his luck. But there was only one thing…Sora always imagined himself as the hero of worlds. Not Yuffie, and certainly not Riku. Riku was the person whom he'd always wanted to one-up. To Riku, Sora was just a kid, a gullible naïve hero wannabe who'd never been able to surpass him.

Sora hated to admit it, but in that sense, Riku was right. The rivalry between them was definitely a thing of friendship, but it was also something Sora took seriously. His number one goal thus far had always been to beat Riku in a sparring match, at least once, but that never happened. And now there was this.

Riku, the superior child, possibly becoming the messiah of all worlds! Yes, Yuffie had the Keyblade, but Riku would undoubtedly be embarking on some sort of exciting adventure to uncover the truths. But then what? Where would that leave Sora? What would he become in the grand scheme of things?

The…the…_sidekick?_

_That_ had never been in one of Sora's daydreams. Because that was real life. Sora…the hero's sidekick. And the hero? Riku. The hero had always been Riku. When Sora or Kairi became victims of bullying, here came Riku. Whenever Sora was in trouble with his mom because of some half-baked shceme, here came Riku. Whenever Sora was struggling in math, here came Riku again. Sometimes it was interchangeable between Kairi and Riku, but mostly it had always been Riku.

Not only because Riku felt he had some big brotherly obligation to protect Sora, but also because, Sora felt, he enjoyed rubbing his victories in Sora's face.

Of course this thought always got the better of Sora, which led him to over-dramatize situations, pick fights, and outright refuse help. But these actions only further proved the notion that Sora was an overly sensitive kid whose cheeks puffed out in defiance whenever he came across something he didn't like.

But the Riku Sora saw today was different. He was removed as Riku usually is, because that's just a natural part of him, but this was something unreal. The Riku Sora saw today was a Riku whom completely shunned the world, his friends, and everything he cared for. A Riku who was drowning in his own misery, refusing to ask for help, and turned his back to anyone who'd dare look him in the face. A Riku…who'd given up.

Sora helped some, he believed, or made it worse--things happened too fast to really process--but either way, the arrival of King Mickey seemed to improve things far beyond what Sora was hoping for. Or so it seemed. Yes, this newfound revelation caused Riku to consider things he'd otherwise neglected, but maybe that wasn't necessarily a good thing.

Sora couldn't really place it, but there was something wrong with Riku today. He seemed normal at first, but after wandering off on his own and collapsing on the dock, Sora found something…dark in his eyes. Even though Riku smiled at Sora, even though he said he could trust King Mickey, what Riku's eyes clearly said was that he trusted no one.

No one.

A loud rapping on Sora's door yanked him from his thoughts and left him bolting upright on his bed. "Yeah?" he called through the door.

"Sora?" It was his mother. "Sora, I just got a phone call from Kairi's gran."

Sora immediately knew something was wrong from that one sentence. Riku and Kairi having a fight, Kairi leaving the island without saying anything, Kairi not calling as she usually does on Sundays to nag Sora about finishing his weekend homework…

"Kairi," his mother continued worriedly, "hasn't come home."


	23. Twisted

Twisted

23

* * *

Thunder boomed from outside Sora's window, but that didn't mean he couldn't hear very clearly what his mother was telling him. "Kairi's gran called Riku a little while ago but he wasn't at the house," Sora's mother explained through the door. Sora ran and thrust it open, sprinting right past his mother. He didn't even bother asking for more information than what she'd given him, or to even tell her where he was going. She looked both alarmed and frightened, far too startled to ask questions, and much too confused to stop her son. "Sora!" she called after him, but she stayed where she was. Sora had always been a very quick child, even as a toddler, and she doubted she'd be able to catch him if she were to follow.

Sora himself was already well past the front door to the house and running down the street. _Kairi Kairi Kairi! _his mind shouted with alarm. The worry twisting inside of him was sickening, because suddenly he wasn't just worrying about one friend, but the other one too.

_Kairi…Kairi…_

Where was she? Kairi never ever came home late, and especially without calling her gran in advance. And Riku…where was he? Why wasn't he at his house?

By a swift process of elimination Sora figured there was only one place his friends could have gone. There was no reason at all for going into town this late at night, neither of them was at the other's house, or anyone else's for that matter, Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie included (since their parents would have phoned), or school.

That only left the island.

Sora ran so fast he hardly noticed when the wind kicked up, smashing against his face like a blow-dryer, and only when drops of cold rain collided with his dry cheeks did he realize the storm outside was taking a turn for the worse. It made Sora all the more desperate to find his friends, hoping that they had not been whisked away by the storm on their boat ride to the island.

Sora thought of Kairi.

She had never made it home from what he'd heard, so did that mean she was still on the island, or was she indeed stuck somewhere on the mainland? Even so, it was better to start at the most likely location.

Riku surely had heard the news of Kairi's disappearance and so had gone to the island himself in search of her. Right? But…why would he go without telling Sora? Was this another attempt at playing the hero? Was he trying to outshine him already? This angered Sora to some degree, but he didn't want to go jumping to conclusions. Not if there was a possibility they could be in danger.

Sora pulled his boat from underneath the dock once he reached shore. Before doing so he checked in every direction to see if Kairi or Riku's boats were docked on the side. They weren't.

_That means they must be there! _Sora thought.

He put a foot to the boat, preparing to jump in, when suddenly a dark shape floating in the water turned his attention. To the far side of the shore there was what looked like pieces of wood brushing up against the beach. There was a small harbor nearby whose lamps illuminated the water just enough to confirm Sora's suspicion. "No…" He whispered in horror. Without even having to go inspect it he could tell they were the dismembered ligaments of someone's boat. But who's?

_Kairi, _was his first thought. Then, _Oh no, what if Riku…?_

What if Riku had gotten caught in the storm on his way to the island?

If this happened Sora knew it would be risky for him to go as well, but he couldn't stop now.

It was difficult, navigating to the island under such extreme conditions, but Sora was certain he'd be able to make it there without injury. He looked up into the sky to access the weather conditions, and when he did, was surprised to see thick purple clouds. What kind of storm was this? The clouds circled overhead, menacing and threatening, spinning winds every which way and kicking up wave after wave, each bigger and more powerful than the last.

When Sora finally reached dock at the island, it came as a half shock and half relief that there was a boat already docked. He hardly had the patience to secure his boat to the side, but did so anyway, sloppily and in a hurry. He just hoped the boat would be there waiting for him upon his return. The winds, by this point, were even stronger and aggressive. The air on the island was different, somehow, giving off a sickening aroma of danger and darkness. Something was happening, but what, exactly?

Sora pulled his spiky bangs from his eyes, squinting against the wind, and saw a lean figure standing perfectly nonchalant and upright by the Paopu tree. It was hard to tell with all chaotic weather rampaging around him, but if Sora had to say anything, he'd guess it was Riku. Who else could appear so calm in a situation like this? But there was something plainly off about this picture.

What was Riku doing here in the first place if not looking for Kairi?

As Sora neared his friend, he tried desperately to call out to him. The winds carried off Riku's name greedily, keeping Sora's voice from him, or perhaps Riku had heard him and was simply not acknowledging Sora. But why would that be? Riku…was something wrong with him?

The patting of Sora's feet against the planks on the bridge were lost in the wind, but the vibrations they caused could not have possibly been lost on Riku, who's back was turned to Sora as he gazed upon the ocean, mesmerized by the dark horizon under the storm.

"Riku!" Sora cried, stopping just a short length behind him.

Riku, silent and standing so abnormally still that Sora did not think he'd heard him, turned his head slightly in Sora's direction and said, "Sora." Immediately Sora knew something was wrong. His voice…it was off. There was something very un-Riku like about his voice, and yet perfectly Riku at the same time. It was Riku, carefree, voice elated with some kind of unshared amusement, and excited. But…in the complete opposite kind of situation.

"Can you feel it?" Riku asked Sora, quietly and curiously. He turned to face forward again, rotating his wrist and contracting his fingers as if tasting the air with them. "The freshness…"

Freshness? Sora thought incredulously. There was nothing fresh in the least about this sinister air. Had Riku lost it? Sora looked into his friend's eyes and drew back. They were way too calm, too trusting, and…crazed. What was happening to Riku?

"What are you talking about?" Sora breathed with deflated lungs. He was frightened.

"You can hear it too, right Sora?" Riku inquired with seemingly innocent curiosity. "The sound of…_unlocking_."

"Riku, where is Kairi? H-Her boat—it—"

"Kairi," Riku repeated, looking into Sora's eyes with emptiness. "_Kairi, Kairi, Kairi_."

"Riku-"

"And _her!_ Always always Sora _this_, Sora _that_; you have no idea how sickening it was to have to stand there and listen to that all day!"

Riku's mood suddenly snapped, sweeping away the obscure tranquility in his eyes. Sora's eyes opened wide, more than surprised, and he stood there, fists clenched and legs paralyzed with fear. Something was happening. A thick fog of black and purple started emerging from the ground under Riku's feet. What looked like dark vine's had begun pushing through cracks in the platform, making them bigger, and started wrapping themselves around Riku's ankles. He didn't seem to notice. In fact, he smiled as if to welcome it, but he never turned his eyes away from Sora.

"But that doesn't matter now," he told his friend. "The path has been opened and the doors to other worlds have been revealed. Now is the time to move, Sora, so come with me. You can't be scared now," Riku held his hand out, palm upward, toward Sora and beamed with twisted excitement. "This is the adventure we've been waiting for! We wanted this, Sora! The two of us!"

"But the King," Sora protested. "He said he could take us! You said we could trust—"

"The King can't help us. We don't need him."

The dark vines continued to weave around Riku's legs, his slim waist, and his arms. The ominous fog, which seemed so incredibly alive, began to engulf Riku's entire body, obscuring his figure. In a quieter voice, one which Sora found to be so shockingly gentle and persuading, Riku said, "Take my hand."

Sora hesitated, heavily conflicted. He didn't know what was happening to Riku, but he knew without a doubt it wasn't good. If Sora were to take his hand, it would only be to pull him back and out of that fog, away from those vines that seemed to be pulling him in with increasing force.

Riku's eyes narrowed menacingly when Sora did not meet his grasp right away, and he urged it forward with a single jerk, making Sora flinch back with a nearly silent gasp. "No" he protested with a movement of his lips. No sound came out, but Riku caught the rejection loud and clear. He retrieved his hand and turned to the side, staring out into the dark ocean, wind whipping through his hair.

"Fine," he said in a factual reply. The shadow vines had reached his shoulders by this point, and began curling around his neck, pulling him into the ground. The dark fog wrapped around his body until there was nothing left but the blanketed figure of his face. He turned to Sora with a swift, smooth motion, and cast his eyes upon his friend with disgust. "I didn't think you would help me destroy Yuffie anyway."

And with a startled, desperate cry from Sora, Riku vanished into the darkness.


	24. Sense

Sense

24

* * *

Yuffie gasped as if she'd taken a punch to the stomach. The Keyblade, which she'd previously been testing out on a soldier-heartless on top of the gear tower, vanished right out of her hand. With the sudden disappearance came a shuddering vibration, as if the Keyblade had given a throbbing cry, and it left Yuffie stuttering in both confusion and horror. A desperate light shone so brightly from its steel that Yuffie felt a surge of pain shoot through her hand and up her arm, causing her to stumble backwards to the ground and against a pile of crates.

A flash of darkness shot through her mind at the exact moment of the Keyblade's departure, and in that half-second Yuffie saw quite clearly the figure of a boy who looked exactly like Riku. The image of his face brought enough pain on the hourly basis, but to have such a disfigured vision of him, and though the circuit of the Keyblade, no less, made her heart pound with horror. "Was that Riku?" she breathed inaudibly. "What's happened?"

The blue and silver-knighted heartless which she'd previously been about to slay seconds ago was now flailing about at her feet, preparing to lunge itself at her, and Yuffie flinched with surprise. In a swift move she reached behind her, preparing to jerk her Oritsuru from its holster, but even as she was doing so the heartless was already in the air, flying towards her. With Yuffie's left hand on her cross, she brought her right arm to her face as a shield and prepared for impact.

But there wasn't one. At least not the one she was expecting. An explosion sent heat waves racing across her bare skin, resulting in a near heart attack with an aftermath of agonizing ringing bouncing mercilessly off her eardrums. When she'd finally processed what was happening, or happened, Leon was suddenly there, protectively, yet snidely, standing over her, and offering a hand in her direction.

"I was looking for you," he said with a grunt. He waited patiently for her to meet his grasp, and when she did, he pulled back with powerful swiftness, lifting Yuffie clear of her feet.

She thought he was going to let her down right away, but he didn't. Instead, Leon held her firmly by the hand like a coat hanger, suspending her off the ground so she could stare directly into his disapproving eyes.

"You know, Squall," Yuffie said, meeting his stare with an angry squint of her eyes, "you could have handled that a bit more tactfully. Like, I don't know, NOT SHOOTING A FIRE BALL IN MY FACE!"

"That's _Leon_," he corrected sternly, and lowered Yuffie gently to the ground. "What were you even doing up here? It's not like you to be cornered by such a powerless enemy. Soldiers are one of the weakest of the horde."

"It caught me off guard."

"You must really be out of it, then," he commented.

"Did you need something?" Yuffie snorted sharply.

"Not really."

Yuffie reached behind to pop her Oritsuru out from it's holster when Leon sighed. From his collar he pulled out a piece of neatly folded parchment. "It's from the King," he said.

"Looks like it," Yuffie commented, securing her cross-blade back into place. "What does it say?"

"Well, since it just arrived I'm guessing he must have sent it out some weeks ago, maybe even months, so I don't really know how to anticipate the time."

"For what event?"

"His primary knights, Goofy and Donald, are supposed to be coming soon as mentioned before. They have important matters to deal with, special order of the king, and if my calculations are correct they should be arriving tonight."

Yuffie narrowed her eyes at the ground, suppressing the vicious pound of her heart. "Matters like what?" she asked factually. Leon eyed her for a moment, knowing very well how unusual her reaction was, but answered anyway.

"The two are coming to seek more information about Ansem and the whereabouts of the Keyblade Master, remember? I don't know exactly what he's told his knights, but apparently the King thinks we have more information to give than he. Or maybe he just didn't have the time to explain things. You know how busy he is. It never seems like he stays in one place for long."

"But we don't have anything new, right?" Yuffie asked with a sigh, plopping down on the ground. She leaned back on the pile of crates, hoping in the back of her mind that the giant bell they were concealing would not decide to kong on it's own.

"Since it's very likely the King sent this notice to us a while ago, I'm guessing he doesn't, or didn't, know about the other guys yet. The ones with black hoods. They're mentioned nowhere in the letter, but if anything I'd guess he already found out, probably before we did."

"Oh, right," Yuffie replied, understanding right away. But that was all she said. Cross-legged she sat, elbows resting on her knees with one hand cradling her chin, and though she could feel Leon staring her down with speculating eyes, she chose to ignore him. The anxious pain in her heart continued to reverberate throughout the hollowness of her chest. What if they discovered...

"What is it, Yuffie?" he asked blandly. She knew Leon well enough to where she could navigate the dullness of his tone to locate the actual feeling behind it. Leon was concerned for her. Even externally Yuffie knew she was acting peculiar, so it came as absolutely zero surprise that he did too. Were she to feign more cheerfulness it probably wouldn't come off so obvious, but Leon knew everything. As did Cloud. To them, hiding emotions were like hiding jingling bells. You can place them behind your back and out of sight, but the sound they make is insuppressible once heard.

"Nothing," she told him absentmindedly.

"Nothing, huh?" Leon repeated with quiet passiveness.

A still moment passed between them, and just when Yuffie thought he was about to leave, Leon clamped his wide wrist around her thin ankle and started dragging her to the edge of the gear tower.

"Woah! What the hell are you doing?!" she screamed at him, clawing her fingers at the ground in a futile attempt to stop him. Leon effortlessly lugged her all the way to the end where he thrust her over the side by her ankle, holding so securely it was almost painful, and dangled her in the air.

"OHMYGOD!" Yuffie cried, flailing her arms in the empty space.

"If you know something, woman, it really does no good to keep it to yourself," advised Leon coolly, just as if he were not dangling Yuffie's life in the sky. "Whatever your concern is, it's our concern too, so keeping it bottled up inside really wouldn't help anyone, including yourself."

Yuffie swayed there by her ankle, staring at Leon with a defiant pout, and crossed her arms.

"Isn't it you who always says to 'mind your own business?'" she countered at him.

"That's different," he replied. "I'm _me_."

"You're an _ass_, I believe you mean to say." Yuffie snorted, containing the violent urge to shoot him a raspberry.

As a response, Leon released his grip, allowing her to plummet, then snatched her again by the ankle just before she fell out of reach. Yuffie yelped loudly and started flailing again. "DAMMIT LEON!" she yelled.

"Are you going to listen to what I said?" he warned, narrowing his eyes.

"You're not my dad!" Yuffie protested childishly.

"Do you want to die, Yuffie?" Leon inquired with a smirk.

"_Finefinefine_, I get it, now let me back down! I'm feeling sick. You know how I don't like heights..."

Leon swished Yuffie slowly back and forth in the air with amusement, just as if she were a yoyo, making Yuffie turn a light green, then thrust her up sideways with a smooth, powerful motion so that she landed bridal style in his arms. He set her down on her feet where she sat on her legs, trying to get a grip on herself by taking steady breaths to recede the rising bile.

"Bastard," Yuffie said matter-of-factly after the proper color returned to her face. Her back was to him as she sat.

"You're not just a kid anymore, Yuffie," Leon told her smoothly. "You're someone who can take care of yourself if you choose, and that includes making decisions all your own. I'm not telling you to share everything, because I wouldn't want to be told that either, but if you're keeping something painful locked away, it does some good every once in a while to share it with us. For someone so naturally social you forget quite often that you're not alone."

Yuffie looked up at him, as Leon had come to hover directly over her crouched form, and it so very much reminded her of an instance she shared with Riku, only then it had not been as pleasant. It made her sad. Despite Leon's words, she felt more alone than ever, more than she thought a human being could feel, but she smiled at him nonetheless. Because there was undeniable truth in his words.

No matter what Yuffie thought, she wasn't alone. This was her original family to begin with, after all. Leon, Aeris, Cloud, Sid, Merlin…there was a Sora, Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie that could be found in all of them, she was sure, so there was no reason to feel so…isolated.

As for Riku, Yuffie figured she might as well just forget the boy all together. It hurt less that way.

"Thanks Squall, ya big softie," she beamed.

"That's _Leon_," he corrected, flicking her roughly by the nose. He abruptly turned to go and said, "I'm going to see the others. They'll probably want to hear about this too."

"You mean you didn't tell them, yet?" she called after him.

"No," was his simple response. He didn't give Yuffie a second look or even a word of farewell as he made his way toward the latter.

_So I was the first one you told?_ Yuffie thought. _How out of routine. Maybe he's the one that's out of it._

***-*-*-*-*-*-***

Cloud was the first one Leon came across, since he was right in the middle of the second district wiping out the last group troublesome heartless. Cloud, looking quite unsatisfied, sheathed his large sword and brushed some dust-like debris off his arms.

"How disappointing," Leon said with a smirk. "Not enough to go around, huh?"

Cloud crossed his arms and faced Leon with a shrug. "Actually, that was the biggest cluster I've seen in weeks. I don't know what's going on, but for some reason more heartless have started emerging, causing trouble left and right. I've had my hands full today with them, though they're only still the weak kind."

"Is that right?" questioned Leon passively. "Maybe it has something to do with this." He pulled the King's letter from his collar and said, "Sent by the King. He says whole groups of stars have started disappearing now, signifying an ever worsening condition of the Galaxy, and an even greater shift in the Universe. Basically, things aren't good and haven't gotten any better. Donald and Goofy are on their way, as you know, to do some investigating. Or actually, it's more like goose-chasing."

"How so?" asked Cloud.

"He's sending them here to look for the Keyblade Master."

Cloud raised an eyebrow. "The Keyblade Master?" he questioned. "But he could be anywhere on any world, and if he'd, by some outrageous chance, showed up _here_, we definitely would have found him."

"The King probably thinks we know something," replied Leon, tucking the parchment back inside his collar. "We just have to trust in his judgment and believe he knows what he's doing. He's never let us down yet."

Cloud nodded as a response, and together they began making their way to the first district. Unexpectedly, When they opened the giant doors, they saw a flash of red , clearly from an outfit of someone they'd never seen before. Someone, who was, quite shockingly, mowing though heartless with something resembling a giant hand-held key.

"The King knows everything, doesn't he?" Cloud inquired with reverence.

"Looks like it," said Leon, folding his arms.

"If I ever seem like I'm doubting the King," Cloud responded, "please knock some sense into me."

"Will do."

**//*********************************//A/N//*****************************//**

**Just so you guys know, nothing in this story is really following the original plot-line in the game. It is a fanfiction, after all, not to mention I told you guys in the previous chapters I would be combining Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2. Don't forget. Anyways, if I did follow the original plot-line, things would be too predictable wouldn't they? Wheres the fun in that?**

**See you soon!  
**


	25. No Promises

**No Promises**

**25**

* * *

"I can't believe you went that hard on a child," Cloud commented, arms crossed. He blew a wisp of breath out his nose, nonchalant and collected, but since there was a young, unconscious boy laying on the ground next to them, the boy who was no doubt the "Keyblade Master," things couldn't be left tossing in the wind. It would do their mission no good if they were to accidentally kill him before he accidentally killed himself.

Leon sheathed his sword, brushed the stray locks from his face that'd fallen out of place during he and the boy's short fight, and said, "Hey, he wasn't as bad as he looked. He needs a lot of work--a whole lot--but I have to admit he isn't the worst candidate."

"So he's really him?" asked Cloud, looking at Sora skeptically from the side.

"Yeah," Leon answered. "The Key is real."

"But look at him," Cloud retorted. "He's the youngest Keyblade Master I've ever heard of. This can't really be…"

"It is."

Cloud stared at the Spiky haired boy lying on the ground who's arms were spread so wide you'd think he was making a snow angels and studied his adolescent face with a passive grunt, then turned away to face forward, seemingly disinterested. "Well then…this ought to be interesting."

"No kidding," Leon smirked.

Cloud cracked his knuckles together and loosened a stiff shoulder joint. "In any case," he said, "it hardly has anything to do we me at the moment. I still have things I need to take care of."

He started to walk off, leaving Leon with the unconscious boy, and while Leon wasn't looking at Cloud, he was very aware of him departing. "Strife," he called. Neither of them faced one another.

"Yeah?"

"Just don't get yourself killed. Giving out…doesn't leave you with the most pleasant feeling in the world."

After a moments silence Cloud answered, "Yeah…I know from experience."

As Cloud's footsteps died away Leon sighed to himself. "Me too."

***-*-*-*-*-*-***

"They found him?!" Yuffie shouted in alarm. The most emotion she'd felt in weeks convulsed into one lurch inside her chest, making her heart stop, but not in the drowning feeling she'd been plagued with as of late. It was an unexpected lifting feeling, dizzy with happiness and excitement. _Riku! _She cried inwardly. Yuffie was very _aware _of her reaction and the feelings whirring dangerously inside her rib cage, making the better part of her sick with disgust. How dare she feel this way after all she'd done?

But still…Riku. Riku was here. Here. _Here. _

Yuffie met Sid inside his accessory shop moments ago, which wasn't exactly overflowing with customers at the time, and right as soon as she walked in the door he smacked her in the face with this kind of information. "Nearly killed him right in front of my store," Sid told her gruffly, lighting his pipe with a quick flick of his fingers. It was a tiny spark of fire magic he'd gotten Merlin to teach him for that very purpose. A little hypocritical of him, everyone thought, since the old man had always been opposed to magic. To him, fighting was all about strength. That and wit. Even Merlin had the gall to call him old fashioned over that one.

"W-What do you mean 'almost killed him?'" Yuffie asked.

"Those two morons Squall and Cloud," Sid snorted, shooting smoke out his nose. "What kind'a business do people think I'm runnin here? If they were goin to pulverize the squirt the least they coulda' done was do it behind my shop."

"That's not the point old man!" Yuffie scolded, gripping the counter roughly. Somewhere inside her she was a little shocked that someone would call Riku a "squirt," but there were more important things that had to be addressed. "Where is he now?"

"Aerith and Squall took the boy to a safety room in the second district."

"The hotel?" Yuffie asked. 'Safety room' is what they referred to it as since heartless never ever appeared inside the rooms. They've been known to pop up in every other place except there, and though no one knew the reason, they figured it best not to question it if there was no real purpose.

"Yeah," Sid responded.

"They're going to explain things to him then?" Yuffie said, more to herself than to him, and more as a statement than a question.

"Sumthin wrong with that?" Sid asked. "The kid doesn't look like much, but he is what we been waitin' for. For a helluva long time, too."

"No, it's just that…" Yuffie's words were lost on her. This was what she'd been trying to prevent. She did terrible things so Riku would never get caught up in this, in this dangerous business of heartless and the overwhelming expanse of other worlds. She sacrificed her friendships and her second family for that. All for him. And now, just like that, he was here?

The fact that Yuffie could easily stride a number of yards to his side and punch him in the arm for being such an idiot nearly brought tears to her eyes, tears of happiness, and even at this very moment she was doing all in her power to restrain herself from going to see him. But every time the joints in her knees twitched with movement, forcibly she'd remind herself that it would destroy all she'd worked for in the past months, even though most of those efforts were already smothered in ruin.

No matter what she felt or what the situation, Yuffie thought it best that Riku never saw her again, and vice versa, since it would only complicate things to nearly irreparable degrees. Just as well, what had transpired between she and Riku could not be redone nor erased, unsaid or undone. It was there, in her mind and surely in his. If she met him again, what in the world would she say? _My bad, I didn't mean to backstab you like that?_

Yuffie clenched her hands into fists.

She only hoped Aerith and Leon didn't reveal their relation to her. It was a very slim chance, but it was still there…

"You met him before, huh?" Sid noted unexpectedly, puffing smoke rings from his pipe. "The Key boy."

Yuffie was so shocked she couldn't form words. Undoubtedly a reaction Leon would have enjoyed very much.

"I ain't no fool," Sid told Yuffie in his fatherly guff of a voice. "And you ain't that good at hidin' things. Some ninja _you _are." Sid closed his eyes with another snort, releasing a cloud of smoke through his nostrils.

"Sid…" Yuffie began pleadingly, and was abruptly interrupted.

The doors to the accessory shop swung open, revealing two very peculiar, yet familiar, characters.

"Donald?" Yuffie gasped in surprise. "Goofy!"

***-*-*-*-*-*-***

"I don't get it," Sora told Aerith. "What does the Keyblade have to do with any of this? Where did it even go and…why did it choose me?"

Leon, who was leaning against the door to the hotel room, crossed his arms and said, "The Keyblade is the primary weapon of destruction for darkness. The Keyblade Master uses it to rid the worlds of Heartless. But it's not as if it's just any other weapon. The Keyblade has a _life _and a will of it's own, therefore it chooses it's own master."

"And it chose you," Aerith explained. She sat on the bed beside Sora, hands folded neatly over her lap. The pity she felt over Sora's confusion was relayed through her eyes, and while Leon more or less felt the same way, at least he took the effort to avert his gaze. His disappointment at the chosen Master, however, was not so well concealed.

"That's why it was necessary to get the Keyblade away from you," Aerith continued. "Because that is what the Heartless are attracted to. They are products of the darkness in people's hearts that mold and take living forms. These forms come in all shapes and sizes, as well as in different statuses of power, and they feed off the hearts that have not fallen into oblivion. The purer the heart, the more desirable, and no purer heart can be found than that of the Keyblade Master."

"M…Me?" Sora echoed.

"That's right."

"But…I didn't ask for any of this!"

"Tough luck," Leon retorted, waving a dismissive gesture to his complaint. "The others didn't ask for it either, but they still did what had to be done."

"How could this have happened?" Sora asked into empty space. "It was all so fast. The last thing I remember was being on my island. I was with…"

Sora's eyes flew open with horrid realization.

"My friends!" he cried, jumping out of his seat. Aerith, appearing quite startled, jerked back in surprise and put a hand to her mouth.

"What happened to my island? My mom! Riku…Kairi…"

_What happened to my home?_

The look in Aerith's eyes only made things worse. Worse even then Leon's passive response.

"You know what, I really don't know," he said monotonously.

Sora didn't know how much time at all had passed since that horrible event on the island, because different worlds surely meant different time schedules, but to him it felt like only hours. Hours since Kairi had gone missing…hours since Riku had disappeared into darkness…hours since he'd been separated from his mother. His home. And what of Wakka and other others?

And what of him?

***-*-*-*-*-*-***

"So that's what the King has been up too!" Goofy exclaimed, pounding a fist into his hand.

"Yup, that's right!" Yuffie explained. She leaned against the counter with her elbows resting on its edge while Sid cleaned the surface around her, wiping in circles with a rag. Goofy and Donald sat together on the couch across from them, side by side with attentive ears. "He's been gathering pages from Ansem's journal. It has all kinds of information about Heartless and their origins."

"This Ansem fella has been studian' Heartless for some time now," Sid added. "Devotes his life to it, from what I heard. The King has been moving from world to world tryin' to find these scraps o' paper. When he's found out enough he thinks he'll be able to put a stop to them Heartless."

"But there are so many worlds the King can't possibly do everything by himself," Yuffie continued. "And even though he himself is a Keyblade Master, in the end, he still needs the help of the other Master in order to properly defeat the monsters that spawn from darkness. King Mickey has always always played an invaluable role in destroying them, but the Keyblade Master is the one who ultimately lands the final blow."

Yuffie did as she was expected to and relayed what information she could about Riku, or the Keyblade Master in general, and even though she knew they would eventually find out he was here, she would absolutely not be the one to tell them. No matter what she couldn't allow Riku to know her involvement. She'd run away if she had to…

"And then there's them other dogs in black hoods that have been terrorizin' the worlds," Sid informed with a puff of smoke.

Together he and Yuffie explained the Organization's (that's what they called themselves) connection to everything, including the necessity of their obliteration.

It wasn't long before the dreaded subject of the Keyblade Master surfaced. Sid, of course, was the one to set it afloat.

"But as luck would have it that runt of a Keyblade Master--"

"Would you stop calling him runt?" Yuffie snapped. Her reaction was quick an unexpected, even to her, but Sid dutifully ignored her.

"--Suddenly showed up here. Leon ought to be with him right now, so you prolly should head over to the second district."

"The key is here?" Donald cried. "Well then let's get going, Goofy!"

The noisy duck jumped high to grab Goofy by his collar and together they fled from the Accessory shop. "See you guys around!" Goofy shouted, stumbling behind his partner.

"Didn't try to stop em, eh?" Sid asked through a cloud of freshly born smoke.

"What would be the point of that?" Yuffie responded without a glance.

"True," Sid agreed, closing his lips around his pipe. "Just don't go runnin' off again, girl. Leon won't forgive you a second time."

Yuffie couldn't help it. She grinned. Damn, she really wasn't good at hiding things.

"No promises."

**//******************************//A/N//******************************//**

**Merry Christmas guys!!**

***Note* Yuffie has NO idea Sora is the Keyblade Master they're talking about.**


	26. Sorrow

Sorrow

26

* * *

Waking up to an aqua land strewn with waterfalls, fountains and waterways sounds like something straight out of a fairy tale, but in Riku's case things could be viewed a little differently. When stirring into consciousness the first thing he felt was a dark ache in his chest, like a lump of coal had forcefully wedged its way in there, shoving against his heart like a toddler hogging a bus seat, leaving it tired and bruised. His whole body felt weighed to the ground, making it difficult to rise from the hard stone on which he found himself planted.

Before Riku even managed to stand upright, vision clearing to a single frame, he knew right away he was alone. Someone like him, who treasured his solitude as much as he treasured his company, would know from the start the feel of another person, no matter how close. But there was no one.

He searched through his mind for an explanation and salvaged two words. Two names.

He called them.

Sora.

Kairi.

And was answered with nothing but the deafening crashes of water, so loud he could hardly hear the desperation in his own voice

Everywhere he looked he saw water, spilling from tall stone walls, submerging the earth with it, concealing what solid ground may lay underneath with translucent ripples. Gray pillars floated in the air, seeming to rise upward in a fashion suitable enough for a walkway, making Riku think twice about the recovery of his vision.

Was he seeing this correctly? Floating pillars of stone? Never had he come across anything of the sort on Destiny Island, or even in his life.

Surly this world where water flowed by the tons into endless pools of nothingness under a sky painted like the inside of a grapefruit was not Destiny Island. This wasn't anything close to Destiny Island.

This was another world.

Never before had Riku felt so alone and removed from his friends and from himself. Adding to the foreign aura of this new world, so alien to him he could taste the differences in the air, was the unsettling shift in his heart. Something was different there, something silent and something powerful. He'd felt it before on the island when his chest tightened in agony, wrenching around his rib cage like a fist. It was nearly as painful as his sudden loneliness.

The only thing Riku had left of him. . . was himself. And a toy sword.

Riku picked it up, examining the smooth texture of it's surface and the unscathed lines in the wood. A child's toy, Riku had always thought, but now it was somehow more than that. It was the only thing he had remaining in his possession that wasn't himself, something that was born from his home.

Riku gripped its handle tight, intending to carry it with him. Even though useless, any weapon was better than none.

Not knowing where else to go, Riku ascended to the pillars. They were close enough in distance, allowing Riku to glide from one to the other without breaking a sweat. His races with Sora had rewarded him with enough stamina to leap across mountains.

Once Riku reached the last pillar, he bounded onto a flat surface where a flight of stairs stretched out from beyond it. The stairs were narrow, but sturdy looking. They seemed to ascend into the sky, disappearing into a fog of wispy clouds where far behind them floated the blurry silhouette of what seemed like an enormous castle.

It was then that the malevolent voice of a woman seeped into his ears.

_Come forth._

"Who's there?" Riku demanded, turning towards the sky. Someone was beckoning him to the castle.

A part of Riku commanded him not to move, to stay where he was at all costs, but another part of him, a more concealed fraction, took hold of his legs and had him walking forward. This small part of him, hidden so deep it almost seemed like a shadow sleeping under surface of an ocean, uttered unintelligible words in the back of his consciousness. Riku's awareness of this shadow gripped him with astounding force, dispatching all the fear and anxiousness he'd had just a minute ago, implanting him with the desire to explore.

The other voice, the dark, spellbound mutterings of a woman, sounded again.

_Step forth and the wind will guide you here._

Riku approached the last horizontal step with confidence, though facing a death-threatening drop at the end, and pushed forward.

The change in scenery was so sudden it nearly threw him for a spin. Riku's next footstep penetrated the grounds of a large balcony, tiled with strange designs connected to even stranger walls. He seemed to be looking at entire rainbow upon these walls, but one that had been bleached of color and fused with metal. Pipes ran everywhere in every kind of pattern, extending from top to bottom, branching out into every width and length.

In front of him was a very wide entrance, arched with these pipes and looming over him like a guard of a demon tower.

The small shadow inside of him urged him forward, forcing his progresson into the castle.

Riku walked for what seemed like an eternity, encountering one strange room after the next, entering through cold, steel chambers and eerie waterways. There were metallic hovering platforms pulled every which way by strings of electricity, leading Riku from area to area with careful slowness.

When he'd finally came to a stop, Riku found himself standing in the middle of an impossibly large library. Book shelves as tall as the ceiling, which reached to the heights of a ballroom, stood like hedges in a maze, daring him to venture into onto its winding path. Ignoring them, Riku slinked past, toward the windows where he could see a curved marble staircase just ahead.

He was very surprised to see a lanky figure at the top, draped in a black cloak, holding a staff. It took Riku a second to realize that this was actually a person he was staring at. The woman had an extremely thin face, pointed at the chin and nose, smiling with lips so red he'd first mistaken them to be bleeding. In contrast to that was a very peculiar shading of skin, colored green like the skin of limes and stretched so tightly over her bones one could almost see the color of her veins underneath.

"You've come," she stated.

"What do you want with me," Riku demanded, holding a death grip on his sword. Whoever this person was, he didn't like her. She seethed with the radiance of darkness, so strong he could practically taste it on his tongue.

There was a sickness in it, but there was something else too. Something he sparked a fondness for.

"What a strange question," the woman smirked. "Wasn't it you that came here on his own?"

"You called me here," Riku retorted with a dangerous calm. But after he spoke the words, he wondered himself.

Did he come because she called or did he come on his own?

"I have never seen you before, boy. Where in the world did you come from?" The smile did not leave her lips as she spoke. There was a fluctuation so slight in her voice Riku had almost missed it, but when he reassured himself its existence, he knew that he was talking to a liar.

"Is that right?" Riku said with superiority. "I don't suppose you know where the exit is, lady? I need to find someone."

_Someone…? _Riku echoed silently.

"Oh, I am aware," the woman replied smugly. "I am the great witch Malificent. I rule this castle and the shadows within it."

"And am I expected to introduce myself, as well?" Riku asked, unfriendly and untrusting.

The witch turned the corners of her mouth up in amusement at his attitude, just like a teacher regarding a defiant child.

Infuriating.

"You're name is Riku, yes? Sora's friend."

Riku's eyebrows shot upwards, his body recoiling in shock. "S-Sora?"

This earned him an even more devilish smirk from Malificent. She gave a single nod.

"Where is he?" Riku demanded, voice nearly trembling. "Where is Kairi? Where is--"

Riku stopped.

Malificent's smile shrank into a thinly pressed line. "Where is _who_?" she asked with a hard edge in her voice, seeming be at somewhat of a loss.

"Where is. . . ." Riku looked down toward the creamy marble floor, squinting his eyes almost painfully. A throb shook his head, reeling his vision a little, and he reached both hands up to cradle it, dropping the wooden sword to the ground. It rattled upon contact with the floor, undoubtedly making a loud echoing clack throughout the vastness of the library, but it was lost on Riku.

A louder voice rang inside his mind, stirring his chest with nearly violent ripples of pain.

Was this the witch's doing? Was she messing with him?

No.

This voice was not hers. This feeling was not one she'd given him. This weed of darkness was something he'd felt before, something he'd tried to hide from his friends for the longest time.

But not nearly so long as he'd tried to hide it from himself.

"Who is the person of which you speak!" Malificent demanded, slamming the bottom of her staff against the hard floor. "Answer me, boy!"

Riku's vision continued to reel. The throbbing in his head sang a harsh melody, shaking his frame with it, sinking inside of him, yet at the same time, seeping out.

Without warning Riku was assaulted with wild shots of anger, horror, desperation, and a feeling so earth-trembling it knocked him to his knees.

Sorrow.

Riku didn't know when, but when he looked up, Malificent was suddenly standing over him, smiling wide with dark secrets tucked under her tongue.

Reflexively Riku snatched his wooden sword off the ground and made a slash towards her stomach.

Riku was in such a disoriented state he did not even feel surprised when she vanished in a cloud of green smoke, only to reappear a short distance off next to the windows.

"Poor boy," she cooed. "You seem to be in some sort of pain."

She walked over to Riku slowly and put a hand on his trembling shoulder. "Allow me to help you, my boy. Tell me, who is this person of which you speak?"

Riku did not push her away. His body convulsed with change, blood scorched in fire.

Inside his mind raged a storm, black and thick, rushing about so fast there wasn't even enough to make sense of his surroundings. It was incredible though, that despite all this, one name seemed to reveal itself, clear in his mind and sharp as the pain it brought along with it.

"Yu. . ." he whispered raggedly, "Yuffie."

**//*******************************//A/N//*********************************//**

**Hey guyz, long time no see! Miss me? Naaah, you didn't miss me. **

**TTFN**


	27. Danger

Danger

27

* * *

When Yuffie searched the length of the hotel, only to find there was no one there, she wondered feverishly if she'd misunderstood some information. She ran up and down the corridors three times before confirming the absence of her friends. Irritated, she rang for the attendant at the counter and was answered with nothing but echoing silence. In the back room, nearly closed off by curtains, all she could see was darkness and the silhouette of a few articles of furniture.

Yuffie craned her neck, straining to get a better look, and parted her mouth in surprise when she saw a figure squirm in the dark near the floor. "Hey! Excuse me!" she called, thinking the attendant might be busy retrieving something from a bottom drawer. "I need to know if a silver-haired bastard and a tall guy with a bad attitude came in to borrow a room? The one with silver hair may have been carrying a sword that looks shocking similar to a baby's toy?"

Yuffie waited for a response, and when given none, she slammed both hands on the counter, hopping over it with a scowl on her face. "Hey!"

But the person on the other side was not a person.

A tiny black creature emerged from the dark room, eyes glowing, jittering and crouching forward on its short little legs. "Figures," Yuffie snorted. It appears as if the poor attendant had been turned into a heartless. Yuffie unsheathed her crossblade and sliced it through, releasing the captive heart inside.

Yuffie watched as the glowing red spectacle disappeared into the air while slipping her weapon back into it's holster. Shaking her head, Yuffie turned around and departed, whisking the door of the hotel open with a heavy sigh. In the back of her mind she wondered which heartless the attendant's heart would appear in next. Undoubtedly its fragrance would draw the attention of any greedy heartless nearby. And they were all insatiably greedy.

Yuffie, Leon and Cloud could kill heartless, yes, but they couldn't free the heart inside of them. Not really. Only the Keyblade Master could do that. Only Riku could do that.

With that thought nudging at her mind, Yuffie strode forward. She wondered where Leon had taken Riku, suddenly frightened at the thought of the possibility of him leaving.

Yuffie squinted her eyes, chest twisting with agony. It was difficult beyond words, separating from Riku by her own leaving, but the other way around. . . .

To be left instead of being the one to leave…was worse. So much worse. Yuffie wondered what it must have felt like for Riku, and pushed the thought away fiercely. Guilt was something to be dealt with for other times.

Still, this thought was hard to deal with since the more sensible part of Yuffie argued with that feeling, being as how she was the one who wanted them to part in the first place. Reuniting now was pointless, very, but still she wanted to, at the very very least, see him one more time. Any glimpse, even through a small crack in sheet of stained glass was better than nothing. It was all she needed, just to know if he was well.

After all, Riku had gotten what he wanted, didn't he? Here he was in a new world, eons away from the hot sands of his tiny little island. Riku had always seemed the type to be looking for danger, for adventure. Though he was usually careful and levelheaded about most matters, this time he did not weigh all the facts.

Was adventure really worth your life? How about killing? How about getting hurt? What about dying?

The thought of Riku falling to the swords of on of his enemies shocked Yuffie to a halt.

In the second district she stood, right at the entrance to the door of the third. She placed her palm against it, resting her forehead wearily on the surface. It almost sickened Yuffie, how the pain of the world coming to ruins around her paled in comparison to the death of someone whom she'd only known for a few months.

But the time she'd spent with Riku seemed so much longer than that. The sense of reality was irrelevant when it came to her affection for the boy, since there existed some in the world who'd known each other for years and never possessed a fraction of the emotion she felt for Riku.

The only notable factor of sense in the reality of which she considered was the certainty that if she'd spent more time with Riku, her fondness would have only grown.

Still, she wouldn't allow them to meet. One look was all she needed, then it was back to Leon. Yuffie knew Leon wouldn't be joining the Keyblade Master on his journey because he was needed here, with everyone else. The heart of the Keyblade Master draws darkness as well as it draws purity, or so wrote the King, and so would undoubtedly draw many friends along the way. Not to mention Goofy and Donald would be with Sora. The King's unwavering faith in the two of them counted for more than they realized, so surely there was no other team more suitable for the Key Wielder.

With a grunt, Yuffie pushed open the door. As a reflex she looked to the right where the conference room was located. The abandoned house was where the group gathered whenever important matters had to be addressed, but as of right now it was not in use. The inside was dark and empty, looking very uninviting and almost depressing.

Yuffie turned away from it, heading toward the tall stair case on the right. Resting both hands on the edge of the narrow wall connected to it, she gazed down over the district. "Are those the King's Knights?" Yuffie wondered aloud, incredulous to see the two of them toppled over one another on the ground. "What the heck are they doing?"

Yuffie squeaked with surprise when the ground beneath her began to tremble and shake. She held a firm grip on the wall's edge, desperate to see if Donald and Goofy might be in danger.

The two rolled away from each other, revealing another person laying on the ground.

Yuffie gasped in utter shock.

"S-SORA?"

Her astonishment was complete when he jumped to his feet, silver keyblade gleaming in hand. A plethora of heartless began popping up everywhere, surrounding the three fighters at alarming speed.

Yuffie's immediate reaction was to jump down and help, but large blocks of earth shot up around them, creating a barrier between the heartless and their escape. "No!" Yuffie cried.

She put her knee to the wall, ready to make a leap over the edge, but a strong hand seized her shoulder.

Alarmed, she spun around, ready to make an attack, but was paralyzed with even more surprise when she found it was only Cloud.

"You can't go," he told her, voice low and calm.

"What do you mean _I can't go_?" Yuffie protested. "They need help!"

"No," Cloud responded quietly, coming to a stand beside her. Over the wall he observed the battle scene beneath them, where just over the top of the barrier you could see Sora and the others battling an enormous heartless. Heartless such as the one they were fighting now was extremely rare to come across. Cloud himself had only ever seen three in his life, but then again, he wasn't the Keyblade Master.

"Compared to the journey ahead of him, that heartless is nothing but a tiny insect, at best," Cloud explained. "If he can't handle this, than he is not fit to be the Keyblade Master. No one will be there to hold his hand along the way. He must fight hard if he is to get even a smidgen stronger."

Yuffie stared at Cloud with her eyebrows arched downwards in displeasure. Her limbs twitched anxiously, eager to move.

It was hard to argue with Cloud. When it came to matters like this, he always knew what he was talking about. Out of all the people in the group, he was the one who'd had it the hardest. From fighting in the military as a fifteen-year old to battling hordes of heartless single-handedly. . .

There was no way he didn't know what strength was, nor what it took to get stronger.

For certain what Cloud had said was undeniably true, but he didn't understand her condition. Sora was one of Yuffie's friends. . . Someone she'd betrayed too. If he needed help and was right there in front of her, there was no way she could just do nothing.

But Cloud glanced at her from the side, eyes narrowing overtop his red scarf. Yuffie drew back.

That was his angry glare.

He knew what she was thinking, and surely would stop her if she were to try and go through with it.

Gritting her teeth, Yuffie peered over the wall next to him to observe the outcome.

The two of them stayed silent until the end of the match. It wasn't long, but it was enough to drag Yuffie's mind to its near limits. By the end she'd almost exploded from anxiousness.

But much to her relief, the three of them had come out victorious and unscathed.

"Not bad for his first real match," Cloud commented. "But there will be others. Many others."

Cloud turned to go, walking toward the door to the second district. "Leon will take care of the kid," he said, glancing at Yuffie over his shoulder. "Let him. Don't interfere, okay? You have other things you need to be doing."

"Yes, _big brother_," she huffed, and stuck her tongue out when his back was turned.

"I saw that," he said, right before disappearing through the door.

Yuffie didn't take the time to stare after him, though what he said was planted firmly in her mind. It made too much sense to ignore. She knew she'd have to remember it from then on, because if she didn't she probably wouldn't be able to understand the Keyblade Master at all. There were many things about the Wielder of the Key that need be understood, and if Yuffie ignored the basics, to what degree of complexity would she be able to understand?

Ducking, Yuffie stared over the wall at Sora, Donald, and Goofy. It seemed as if they were introducing themselves to one another. As they were doing so, Leon and Aerith came from behind them.

It looked as if Leon was explaining something with Aerith's help. A small pang of jealousy sparked somewhere inside Yuffie's chest, watching all of them together like that. It wasn't fair how, even though they didn't know Sora at all, they were still permitted to be his guide and his friend.

The swelling desire to drag Sora into a headlock, laughing heartily with the joy of reunion, turned to a scorching ache.

_Sora, I'm right here, _her mind wailed, _won't you __at least__ say hi to me?_

Sora turned to Donald and Goofy, shaking hands and making a pact. As they were absorbed in each other's meeting, Leon took a swift glance in her direction, catching her eye for the briefest moment, then turned to Aertih to ask her something.

_Oh, God, he knows I'm here_. . . She thought. She also heard the words in her mind, the words he'd undoubtedly be saying if he were right there in her ear. _Don't you dare do something stupid._

Maybe he'd talked to Sid prior to this, Yuffie didn't know, but either way Leon knew well not to call her over for introduction. Thank God, too, because she wouldn't have known what to do. But here now, all alone and chest heavy with woe, Yuffie could only resort to sitting quietly, watching as the five talked and left.

Yuffie guessed they would be heading over to Sid's right now.

Now that the Keyblade Master was finally here, wielding and ready to go, all he needed was a ship. There was little that could be found in Traverse town, so there was no reason for him to stick around. Not to mention Donald and Goofy were extremely eager to find the King. They'd already accomplished their first mission by finding the Keyblade Master, so now it was off to find the boss.

Yuffie slinked down to the ground when they were out of sight.

And what would she be doing? What could she possibly do to help? She, who was so powerless? She, who had understood nothing and misunderstood everything?

She was so very certain Riku had been the Keyblade Master everyone was talking about, but now. . .

Where was Riku now? _Where?_

Sora had made it off the island, so undoubtedly Riku had too. But why wasn't he with Sora? And Kairi? What possible reason could there be for their separation?

Yuffie's head throbbed with confusion.

She was so wrapped in puzzlement she didn't even notice when a figure came to stand over her. Surprised, Yuffie looked up and saw a tall person draped in dark attire. Over his face he wore a hood where just underneath there showed a potion of pale skin and thin lips.

"Yuffie, correct?" he said, voice deep and ringing of danger. "I believe you have something that belongs to me."


	28. Energy

Energy

28

* * *

Immediately Yuffie sprang to her feet, mind alert. A stealthy stranger this must be, she concluded, since she'd heard no sound of his approach. Or maybe she was simply too distracted. The dark and dusty cloak he wore touched the ground at his feet, and just behind his hood Yuffie could make out a flash of white hair, straight and thin. The man stood so utterly still he seemed to be a statue, but this made Yuffie all the more tense. In her experience the stillest adversaries were always the fastest, and could strike faster than any viper.

"Who are you?" Yuffie demanded, slinking along the wall's short edge. The man made no motion, save for his head which turned slowly to follow her movements. "Introductions are not needed," the man said in a dark voice. "All that matters now is that you give me what I came for. And try not to feign innocence, for this is not the first time we have met. You ran from me last time, and will not do so again."

Yuffie's eyes narrowed. Surprise shook her insides, but she dared not let it show. "We've met, have we?" she responded. "Well, beats me. I never forget a face. . .but then again, you never show your face, do you?"

"Insolent child," the man replied, voice deep with superiority. "Need I refresh your memory? On the day I saw you last, your face was stiff with dread. The waves before you, crashing against the base of the cliff on which you found yourself cornered, roared with the anticipation of your fall. It surprised me, I must say, when you hurled yourself over that jagged edge and into the clashing waters without haste. Rather than hand the artifact over to me, you risked your life by jumping. Quite foolish of you, girl, but also brave. I didn't think you'd survive, and yet here you are, standing. When last we met your skin seemed much paler, your posture less bold. What have you been up to, I wonder, in these past long months that have sparked such a change?"

"Bastard!" Yuffie then hissed, unsheathing her weapon with great speed. But the man didn't flinch at all. Instead he continued, smiling under his dark hood.

"Let me ask you, child, how was it living on that tiny island? How was it thriving under the sun instead of under the cloud of shadows? Was it different than your hometown? In a land where Sephiroth deemed himself lord of the world and called for the beauty of its destruction, did you ever once find yourself smiling there as you did beside _him_?"

Yuffie's gut wrenched with sickness. Her memory flashed, taking her back to the night before she'd met Riku. This was the man who'd forced her off the cliffs, almost killing her. The artifact of which he spoke was no longer in her possession, but from the sound of things he didn't seem to know that.

But were she to reveal its location, all she'd worked for up to this point would be put at risk again.

Like hell.

Yuffie gave her Oritsuru a single, threatening spin in hand, spreading her feet apart. A grin stretched across her face as she challenged the enemy with her eyes, sparkling with the anticipation of battle. "So you're him, huh?" she noted with a teenager's defiance. "Yeah, I remember you. Not that you showed your face then either, but I remember the annoying bass in your voice when you talked. Do you always try to sound so important, or do you just like the sound of your own voice?"

The man shook his head slowly in response, clearly displeased. "I was hoping I would not have to unleash my powers on a child," he said, reaching into his cloak. "But you leave me little choice. It was unfortunate that you had to involve yourself in this matter--so much bigger than you could ever be aware of. You made things very difficult for me, and now I will make you pay for it. I grow tired of having my plans delayed."

"Don't worry," Yuffie assured him with an excited grin, "there will be nothing left to delay once I get rid of you."

A bluff, surely, since Yuffie had never killed anyone. But the more damage she inflicted on him the better. Were things to take a turn for the worst, she would take all her memories to the grave with her if she had to. Her woes, her joys, and her heart. All of them belonged to her, and this man would have none of it!

Yuffie waited for the man to unsheathe the sword from his cloak before making a move.

It was very long, glimmering the colors of blue and red. The shape was both flat and pointed, resembling the wing of a dragon or a bat. Its handle was dark like coal, shining as bright as glass. There was a dark beauty about it, but there was also something about it that rang of madness. No doubt a weapon forged from darkness, Yuffie concluded. Leon and the gang had come across several on their quest to rejuvenate the worlds, and all had been wielded by exceptionally powerful foes.

Under other circumstances, Yuffie would have gladly rushed in to battle with this person, but a blundering awareness inside her made it very apparent that if this man was as strong as those previously encountered, than there was no way she'd make it out of this battle alive.

At the very least she found comfort in the fact that Sora had already gone. He was now on his way to worlds far far away from this one. And Riku. . .

Yuffie didn't know where he was, but at least he wasn't here. It pained her to be relieved by his absence, but this is how things should be.

But now wasn't the time to worry. It was the time to fight.

Yuffie turned the balls of her feet on a slant and thrust her crossblade forward. Both their weapons then met with a loud metal _clang, _and upward thrust her Oritsuru. The attacker took a graceful leap forward, aiming for a vertical slash across her stomach, but Yuffie dodged, leaping for her crossblade.

In the air she grasped it, flipping forward into the wall, hanging by a windows edge with her feet planted solidly against the vertical structure. Knees bent, Yuffie sprang towards the man, ready to saw through his neck, but he caught her by the stomach, flipping her clear over the wall.

Yuffie went far, sliding into the wide space of the third district. Her Oritsuru slid past her when she landed, clanging against a hard brick wall. When the man was suddenly in front of her, weapon raised and neck muscles tense, Yuffie flipped backwards, palms flat against the ground. With quick reflexes she struck with her right foot, but the man warded it off with his sword. The impact flung his arm back, and as a response he kicked her hard in the stomach.

Yuffie flew backwards with a grunt of pain, but she used the extra thrust to maneuver onto her back where she slid clockwise, snatching her cross blade from against the wall. In the following instance their blades met, clashing against one another with excited screams. Yuffie remembered her fights with Riku, and though his movements weren't nearly as smooth or precise as this man's, the extra practice had no doubt matured her speed and style.

But the difference in their skill was obvious. Yuffie had been in many fights, but it was clear that this man had been in ten times more. In battle, experience was everything, and with a gap so large Yuffie was almost certain of her defeat. But even knowing this she kept her muscles taught, burning with energy.

With each vicious jab the man made with his sword, Yuffie met it head on with her cross blade, giving it a sharp spin to ward off the attack. The teeth of her Oritsuru whistled every time it turned, bringing music to this metallic dance of warriors. Where the man only used his weapon, however, Yuffie used her hands and feet as well.

Whenever a spot lay unguarded on her body, a swift jab of the leg would spring into action, as did and arm or a fist. It hurt to make hand to hand contact with any weapon, but the stinging sensations soon rolled into one, making it slightly easier to ignore.

Yuffie's crossblade shone with the light of stars, drinking in the dotted spectacles from above the everlasting night of Traverse Town. Her heart was racing with both adrenaline and fear, but the intoxication of battle affected her every bit as powerfully as it did her Oritsuru.

Yuffie leaped a long distance back, pulling out a fist full of throwing stars. All at once she let them fly, and together they sailed toward the target. But the enemy, in one quick sweep of his sword, sent each one flying back at her.

Like a saw, Yuffie spun her crossblade with an amazing speed, knocking each star back in random, sharply angled directions.

In the half second it took to do this, her opponent flashed in front of her, weapon blazing. He aimed for Yuffie's head with horizontal slash, but she ducked forward. As a consequence she was met with the front of his knee to her stomach, rendering her temporarily breathless. Taking advantage, the man then jabbed his sword forward, aiming to penetrate her heart.

But Yuffie was fast, so the sword instead somehow found its way entangling itself in her scarf. Without trying to attempt to free his weapon, her opponent lifted her entire weight by the scarf, throwing her into the air with a single thrust of his arm.

Yuffie's neck burst with pain as the scarf tightened, but when it loosened she suddenly found herself high in the air, defenseless. She wasted no time throwing her crossblade downwards upon the encroaching enemy, but predictably he sent it off at an angle with a flick of his sword, turned on its side.

He jumped in the air then, both hands grasping the handle. Yuffie didn't bother closing her eyes--she was too surprised--but the weightlessness of falling to her doom seemed to impact her even before the blow.

However, in a quick flash, a dark figure zoomed before her eyes, slamming into her opponent like a chain ball. Off they went in another direction as Yuffie fell upon the ground, rolling. Body aching, she positioned herself to her knees. When she jumped up, she caught herself in a stumble, her vision following suit.

The land span before her for a brief moment, making her slightly nauseous. As everything cleared, she found herself facing the back of someone.

"Leon. . ." she whispered hoarsely.

In front of her he stood, legs still with both hands gripping the handle of his gunblade. The tip of it shone red with heat, and out sprang a fireball in the direction of Yuffie's attacker. He dodged it smoothly, stepping to side with grace.

"You never listen, do you?" Leon scolded in such a way that Yuffie knew he was talking to her. He was focused on the enemy, back facing her, but the following silence indicated his patience for a response.

"It was _so _not my fault this time," Yuffie defended, shaking her head slightly to dull the tilting of her vision. "I just have really bad luck."

Leon snorted. "Yeah, bad luck that comes only second to Cloud's."

Yuffie ignored him, searching for her weapon. It was lodged into a brick wall when she spotted it, teeth jetting outwards.

"Time to get serious, kid," Leon warned her. "I don't think this guys messing around." There was a smirk in his voice as he spoke, making Yuffie shake her head with a grunt.

"Boys," she grumbled.

Out stretched her hand, calling for her Oritsuru. It vibrated in the wall for a split second, then in a blinding purple light it vanished. In the same second it appeared in her hand, blazing brightly with an indigo light. Energy poured from it, leaking into Yuffie's veins. Never did her weapon ever look more beautiful than it did in these moments.

She looked up. Leon's blade shone as well, doubling in length. From his jacket, Leon pulled out a small green vial of what Yuffie presumed to be elixir. "Take it," he commanded.

"But--" Yuffie protested.

"_Take it_."

She didn't argue. Yuffie downed the soothing liquid, feeling the wonderfully rejuvenating cooling of her system. Quickly her energy was coming back to her.

"And you are?" Leon inquired calmly toward the man. Off at a distance he stood, back erect with his sword positioned at his side.

"Ansem," came his short reply.

Before Yuffie and Leon even had time to be shocked, he was already in motion. Leon met his blade with a spark of bright light, sending shots of electricity shooting in all directions. Together the two men clashed swords, each more powerful than the last. Leon's gunblade sang with life against the roar of its adversary, drinking in the rapture of battle.

_That can't be Ansem! _Yuffie's mind screamed in the meanwhile. _It just can't be!_

The man whose journal entries they'd been hanging on for years, the one who'd given birth to heartless in his own wretched lab, and the man who'd almost tried to kill her just months before. Never had she imagined that they would all be the same person.

Being Ansem, his death made for a costly sacrifice. His information was incredibly valuable, but with things as they were now, Yuffie couldn't imagine how things would turn out.

Leon was then thrust back by a sudden burst of magic from Ansem's outstretched hand, sliding next to Yuffie on the soles of his feet. Leon was not hurt, as the blast had hit the side of Leon's gunblade, but indeed he did look surprised. It was the first time Ansem had shown signs of any magical talent, and at this point Yuffie realized how he'd only been playing with her up until this point.

"Stupid bastard," Yuffie hissed under her breath. "Guys with superiority complexes are the absolute _worst_."

"Focus," Leon instructed, coming to a stand beside her. "We have to be more careful now."

Yuffie nodded without a word, and in one harmonious motion they jumped forward. Both their weapons met his, meeting in a spectacular burst of fireworks. The dark night was alight with their energy, putting even the brightest street lamp to absolute shame.

Leon and Yuffie always worked well together. They fought like cats and dogs sometimes, but when in battle they were like two sides of a coin. As one moved, so did the other. Even slashing side by side they never managed to get in each other's way, and with their added strength there was no enemy they couldn't defeat.

Ansem switched battle tactics rather abruptly when met with their conjoined efforts. A dark shadow of energy emerged from around him, swelling to enormous distances. The light of Yuffie and Leon's weapons were the only thing keeping them from being engulfed by the shadow, and together they huddled in close.

"What the hell is this?" Yuffie remarked.

"Heartless!" Leon exclaimed.

Many of them, from every shape and kind appeared from the dark mist, twitching and creeping forward.

Leon gave a rough and exasperated "Hmph!" at their appearance. "_Sonofa_--"

"_bitch_," Yuffie finished harshly.

Ansem laughed from a distance, spreading both arms toward the sky. He waved his weapon forward, calling forth more and more.

"Now die," Ansem's voice droned.

In a horizontal sweep of his sword, all heartless charged forth.

Chaos was everywhere. Yuffie's crossblade sawed through crowds of heartless, slicing off heads and rending stomachs. With every creature it touched, an explosion of dark shadows emerged, sending a heartless back into obscurity.

Leon made swift work of groups with his gunblade, taking long and powerful swings. Whole barrages of fireballs sprang from the tip of his sword, bursting into walls and heartless at the same time. The third district was quickly becoming a mess in their wake.

All the while Ansem stood and watched, face barely maintaining a grin. It infuriated Leon and Yuffie, but there was little they could do with so many heartless surrounding them.

"They're not stopping!" Yuffie screamed over the roar of heartless.

"I know!" Leon screamed back. "Just keep killing them until--"

A resonating boom then cut between them, shaking the ground. Even Ansem looked up in surprise.

A thin figure stood above them, arms spread forward with blue electricity surging forth. The person then retrieved his hands, flipping back his long sleeves.

"Merlin," Yuffie exclaimed breathlessly. A relieved smile tugged at the corner of her mouth at the sight of him.

"Looks like you could use an old man's help?" he suggested rather lightly.

"Are you guys injured?" A bell-like voice suddenly rang from behind him. Aerith then emerged, worry plain on her face. Both her eyes closed in prayer, her hands folding over one another. A bright green light shone from her body, and with it a stream of energy engulfed Leon and Yuffie, healing them both.

"I _love _our friends!" Yuffie shouted at Leon.

"Ditto," he responded with satisfaction.

Ansem bared his teeth at the sight of the newcomers. He called more heartless forth, twice as aggravated and aggressive as the other ones. "Look out!" Leon called to them, but Merlin was quick.

A burst of fire blossomed from his fingertips, engulfing the sky with it. The heartless disappeared quickly, though still some sprang forth in instant replacement.

Leon and Yuffie hacked away from below them, speed and health rectified by Aerith's extraordinary healing powers. From beside Merlin she supported them, warding off heartless with her staff whenever they came too close.

Things continued in this fashion for a blurry six minutes until Ansem's patience completely evaporated.

"Enough of this," he seethed from under his hood.

And everything shook. The walls, the stairs, and even the shops vibrated with vigor. The entirety of the area was submerging in utter darkness. Heartless rolled their heads back, shrieking into the air. Everything became so submerged that not even the light from the stars were visible.

Abruptly the light from Yuffie and Leon's weapons went out, like flames on a candlestick, making them invisible to one another. The friends all called out for one another, but were rendered mute by the ferocious roars of heartless.

_Hold on everyone! _Aerith's voice whispered in their minds.

The first sign of light came from a small green stream sprouting from the cracked pavement on the ground. Leon saw it clearly amongst the calamity, holding off heartless with his gunblade.

The small sprout of green light unwound like a grape vine, curling along the surface. Suddenly a whole body of it shot forth like a geyser, purging the darkness like a knife. The stars abruptly became visible, while surrounding the area was a mass of green energy.

In that instant every single heartless vanished, obliterated.

When the green light subsided, the chaos had lifted, rendering clear the damage done to the third district. The ground was almost completely up-heaved, the walls crumbling and the shops falling apart. Broken glass lay scattered everywhere, splintered wood and street lamps laying among the rubble.

"Aerith!" Merlin cried in alarm. She was on the ground next to him, unconscious. Her body was sprawled on its side. The old wizard pulled her head into his arms, checking her pulse. Still alive, but barely.

What an incredible mass of energy she'd used! An amazing girl, Merlin always knew, but never had he expected this. What he wouldn't give to have had her as a student in his youth.

"Yuffie?" Leon's voice suddenly drifted from below him.

He limped among the rubble, every part of him torn and blood soaked. Darkness had blinded him, throwing him at the mercy of his enemies, and from it he had not emerged unscathed.

"Leon, Aerith!" Merlin called to him, though he too spun his head about in search of Yuffie.

Leon looked up at the old man to see Aerith in his arms. Worry struck him at her motionless form, but not more so than the utter disappearance of Yuffie.

And Ansem.

Fury overtook him. Leon's body shook with rage, and he raised his gunblade in the air with both hands.

"NO!!" he cried in anger, slamming his sword upon the ground in a burst of flames. The outburst of energy crippled him, sending him crumbling to the ground. Merlin shouted something to him, but his words were lost on deaf ears.

"No. . ." he whispered.

**//********************************//A/N//**********************************//**

**To anyone still reading this, BRAVO. I LOVE YOU.**


	29. The World that Never Was

The World that Never Was

29

* * *

Kairi, dazed and weary, awoke to a rather unpleasant blaring of what seemed like guitar music. Her legs were so stiff they were numb, and for good reason too, since it appeared that she'd been sitting on them the whole time she was unconscious. And despite waking to surroundings she'd never seen before, painfully stretching out her numbingly stiff legs, and stifling an assault of dry coughs from lack of water, the only thing she could find herself thinking was _I hate rock music. . ._

It was only when she realized the music was coming from a person that fear set in. The bars which trapped her appeared thick and impenetrable. The large cubicle that served as her cage shone with the cold metal it was made from, glittering with sparks of wire and translucent cables. From beyond the borders of her cell Kairi could make out lots of black and emptiness. There was a long platform of what appeared to be white steel and diaphanous walkways.

Kairi, still half dazed, thought for a wild second that she might be floating in space, only there were no stars anywhere in any direction. She shuddered as she would have if a cold wind had suddenly cut through her, but there was no wind. There was not even cold, nor was there heat. It was like being trapped in a bubble, and the air coursing in and out of her lungs were naught but the oxygen in her own body.

The cloaked figure playing music was half hidden by the wall on the outside of the cell, as he leaned against the bars playing an instrument Kairi could really only suspect to be a guitar. In an effort to stand to her feet, Kairi stumbled against the wall, shocked by the utter weakness of her body. When was the last time she'd eaten? The last time she sipped a glass of water?

The sound of her zipper scraping against the solid walls alerter her captor, or guard as he were, and he spun on his heels to face her. "Oh! You're awake!" he noted with blatant obviousness. Kairi was slightly taken aback at his voice. The man was covered from head to toe in black apparel, so her immediate assumption was that this person must be roughly mean and fierce in all his silent nature.

But then again, what kind of meticulously silent guard blares notes on his guitar while guarding a prisoner? And his voice! So young and boyish, like that of a teenager who at this moment, would have liked nothing better than to be surfing at the beach.

When the guard lifted his hood, Kairi could see clearly that her observations carried over to his face. Blond mullet with thin strands of hair hanging in his eyes, pale skin, topaz eyes. . .the perfect resemblance of an ordinary high school student you'd find loitering in the city with his friends.

"Kairi, right?" he pointed with a grin. "That's what Saix called you after he tossed you in here. Sora's friend."

Something sharp and painful wrenched inside of her at the sound of name. "S-Sora?" she repeated, eyes half closed with dreariness. Kairi fell to her knees, drawing back in sitting position. She wasn't yet strong enough to stand.

"Yeah," the blond shrugged, "I was told to guard you or whatever, for now. I had nothing better to do anyways. With so many orders being tossed around and the bosses running this way and that, no one really knew what to do with me so I got stuck being your keeper."

_What a jerk_ Kairi thought.

"But still," he went on, "I'd prefer this over the battlefield. Not my area of expertise, know what I mean? I shred guitar, not people. Actually," he held the large blue instrument in the air," this is a sitar, but you catch my drift. This here's my faithful _Melodious Nocturne_. We're you admiring?" His grin widened, eyes triumphant.

_Certainly likes to talk _Kairi noted inwardly.

"Where. . .am I?" she breathed.

"It's really amazing! I can command water with it, can you believe it? Xemnas may love his high horse, but man does he know how to enchant a weapon or two!"

"Idiot, just tell me what's going on!"

"Touchy, touchy!" the boy laughed. "No need to be rude. I am, after all, the only one keeping you company. If I leave, you'll be here all by your lonesome. And I know you don't want Larxene guarding ya. She's got, like, NO patience at all, especially with girls like you."

Kairi wanted to yell something, but her words caught in her sticky throat, sending her into a coughing fit instead.

"Haha, not too comfortable are you? Sucks for you. There's no water or food where we're at."

"What I'm trying to know is where "at" is!" Kairi exclaimed, collecting herself.

"Well," the boy replied, eyes fixed upon his sitar, "'at' is 'here' and 'nowhere.'"

"What are you talking about?" Kairi demanded.

"There isn't really a name for this place, but I guess you can just call it _The World that Never Was_. Kinda boring if you ask me. No babes, no music, and besides that brat Larxene, it's a total sausage fest."

"You're not making any sense," Kairi despaired. _A World that Never _was, he called it. So did that mean she was nowhere? The foreverness of space and blackness seemed to suggest so, but the concept was still impossible. Anywhere was somewhere, so where was she? Kairi suddenly felt detached from herself.

Here she was, in an otherworldly cell, trapped like a mouse, probably far from home and far from anyone who'd ever claimed to lover her. Not that she had that anyway. Riku had shunned her while Sora continued to avert his eyes. And where were they now? Were they thinking about her? Were they worried?

Would they come get her, wherever she was?

Instantaneously, a loud metallic sound shot through the air, followed by violent roar. The ground shuddered from underneath her, and the whole cell seemed to tilt on an axis. Or maybe that was just her frenzied state of mind.

"Holy-!" the guard cried. "The hell was that?"

"What's happening?" Kairi shouted.

"You're guess is as good as mine, girl!"

A small army of little shadowy creatures melted up from the ground, round heads twitching, fixing their bright yellow eyes upon Kairi. They were inside and outside the cell, attacking the blond-haired boy who was reciprocating their strikes with his sitar and inside, where Kairi pressed her back against the wall, completely void of protection.

"H-Help!" Kairi shouted.

"Busy!" the guard called over the black, roaring mass.

_Some guard I got stuck with! _

A scream was working its way out of her lungs when a burst of blue sparks purged through the crowd of dark monsters. One more then followed in its place, eliminating all that were in the cell.

"Hey, dumbass!" a woman's voice shouted. On the outside of the cell a blond-haired girl stood before the boy with his sitar. He appeared to be shaking somewhat, the grip on his weapon unnecessarily tight. It couldn't be because he was scared of this girl. . .

"The prisoner was ordered to be kept _alive_, remember?" Her voice was sharp and unfriendly, yet she wore the exact clothes as he. Kairi immediately made them out to be companions, but she didn't seem to treat him that way. "Or can you not handle a few mere baby heartless without help?"

"Shut up, Larxene!" the boy replied, erecting his pose in an almost defiant way. "It just took me by surprise. And besides, _I'm _more important."

_So this is Larxene_, Kairi observed. _He was right, she doesn't have patience._

The girl curled her hand into a fist and sent a flurry of sparks in his direction, but he dodged. Barely.

"I swear to _God_, Demyx, you are the _stupidest _member we've ever recruited! Hands down! I don't know what Xemnas was thinking when he let you into our ranks that day!"

"Just tell me what's going on!" He shouted.

"What does it look like, you idiot? Maleficent has issued an attack on us. Heartless are running around everywhere. Stupid old broad has no idea who she's messing with. Realistically she's powerless against us and she doesn't even know it." This fact seemed to harbor a smugness from her, as her arms were crossed in a very superior manner, a dark smirk hidden behind her mask of impatience.

"Where is everyone?" Demyx asked.

What weird names, Kairi though in the back of her mind, though she paid close attention to what the two were saying. The names they were throwing around were utterly lost on her, but Kairi felt that she'd come to know the meanings sooner or later.

"That would take too much time to explain," Larxene snapped," And besides, you should already know that! Just get that ugly rat out of here before something happens to her. She has to be kept alive for the time being. Xemnas will have both our heads if she dies!"

_Ugly rat…? _Kairi echoed with fury.

"Where the hell am I supposed to take her?" Demyx cried.

"The hell should I know! Just get moving!" A massive creature loomed up behind her, but Larxene spun to throw a bolt of electricity in its face. Its whole body fell apart at once, dispersing into black smoke. Just what those things were Kairi had no idea, but they scared her senseless.

Exactly what had she gotten herself into?

Larxene reached toward the wall on the outside of the cell were Kairi couldn't see, and punched in some sort of code on a device that was unknown to her. The bars lifted at once, and the girl stalked toward Kairi, who's back was still painfully pressing against the wall.

Rougher than any man, Larxene snatched Kairi by the arm and hurled her at Demyx. "Leave now!" she ordered.

"So _pushy_! Anyways, you got it. I'm outta here!" Demyx strung his fingers across his sitar. In response, a giant black space opened up in front of them from which poured a mixture of blue and purple smoke. Demyx gripped Kairi by the arm and leaped in, much against her protests.

In those five seconds of submerging into darkness the only things Kairi could think of were Sora and Riku.

Sora and Riku.

Sora and Riku.

Sora. . .

**/***********************************/A/N/**************************************/**

**A certain someone, and you know who you are, made a comment that I'd signed my death warrant by writing this story.**

**Goddammit I think you where right. **

**Welcome back guys.**

**And Riku and Yuffie will meet again soon, don't worry  
**


	30. Salutations

Salutations

30

* * *

Yuffie gave one hard bang against the cell, delighting in the reverberating echo it produced. It was a shame that the furious pounding was lost on her capture, who stood on the outside, back turned to her. Ansem.

When Yuffie awoke, she'd found herself entrapped in a giant white flower, (or at least that's how it looked) that seemed to be, somehow or another, a pod. It was like staring into a glass window glazed with morning frost. Through it she could make out a large white room, littered with crayon drawings and a sizably big dining table. Other than that, everything screamed of emptiness.

Yuffie couldn't deny that there was a purity about the room, but also an unspeakable eeriness.

"Alright look, kidnapping me is one thing, but taking my _materia_? You're asking for it!" She gave another pound.

_I can't hear the racket you're making, _Ansem prodded inside her mind. _Namine's rose pods are sound proof._

The man in brown robes turned her way, juggling a fist full of glowing materia in one hand. If Yuffie didn't know any better, she'd say he was taunting her. _These things certainly are wonderful _he said. _Though I cannot figure out for the life of me how to use them. I would ask you, but I don't think you'd tell me_. A dark laughter rumbled out of him, making Yuffie's eyebrows knot with anger.

"Why have you taken me?" Yuffie demanded, crossing her arms. She leaned against the interior, glaring kunais. "And who the hell is Namine? Never heard of her, but I'll be glad to kick her butt too for helping you lock me up."

_If your wondering why I've kidnapped you-_

_douchebag. . ._

_Than you must be thicker than I presumed. You know why I've kidnapped you, foolish child, because it is the same reason why everyone has tried to kidnap you._

Yuffie widened her eyes, uncomprehending.

_Those heartless that attacked you the instant you set foot upon Traverse Town-did you think that was out of bad luck?_

When Yuffie first entered the empty house in the Third District to see all her friends for the first time since her separation with Riku, she recalled mentioning heartless that had attacked her. "But that's because there were many there to begin with, not because they wanted me," she protested.

_The scream you heard then, as people were being thrown off their feet by masses of heartless, did you think that was purely coincidence as well, young ninja? And the Rank B heartless that attacked your friend Sora? It wasn't there for the Keyblade Master, as Leon or Cloud might have told you. That heartless was there for you._

Yuffie didn't want to admit it, but everything he was saying made sense. Or was beginning too. The proof had always been there, right in front of her eyes. Riku. . .and his island. There on Destiny Island, Yuffie hadn't heard even a tiny peep from a heartless, then, the second she whisked away, they were everywhere. Why was this?

The door to Sora and Riku's world had not been locked, yet there wasn't a heartless to be seen. Was it because the Keyblade Master was, somehow, unconsciously preventing heartless from spilling through the cracks? Yuffie no longer knew if it was Sora or Riku who's power she'd been tracking all this time, but either way, one of them was undoubtedly the Keyblade Master.

Yuffie's first intention had been to take the Keyblade for herself, in place of its desired Master, so that she could lock all the worlds' Keyholes on her own. That way, no one from the island had to leave. The less they knew about the real danger of the Universe, the happier they could live. She'd been born into danger, which is how she met the Resistance and Leon, so recklessly throwing herself into said dangers was not something that dawned on her as problematic.

However, Sora had the Keyblade now, and was using it quite effectively. Was it her own fault that, in the end, she could not take the power of the Keyblade for herself? It had been a long shot, and by the looks of things, it seemed as if she'd failed. Yuffie couldn't help but fret over Riku and Mai, the island, Tidus, Selphie, Wakka, everything she'd tried to protect.

Were they dead now?

Yuffie's stomach dropped. "Okay, but," she swallowed, gripping a fistful of bangs, "that still doesn't explain _why _they've targeted me."

_Don't you, now? Are you telling me that after what you've just been through, you still can't figure it out? _I_ have been issuing all those attacks. Those Heartless have been after you because of _me_. I wanted you here, and so, here you are. I went through a lot of trouble to get this far. Even baiting that young princess. You know, the one that seems to hate you?"_

"You son of a bitch," Yuffie seethed. "You have Kairi?"

"I _did_." Under the Ansem's, Yuffie imagined a sinister smirk. "But I handed her off to Maleficent. She has better use for the girl than I do."

"You _what!" _

"However, what I do have is this. . ." Ansem rose his left and into the air, giving his wrist two lazy rolls. Beside him blossomed a dark gateway, one which poured black smoke and purple mist. When it vanished, in its place stood a young girl.

Yuffie gasped. Silently, her lips formed the syllables of a name. _Kairi? _

A large pair of blue eyes stared up at Yuffie, calm, and yet strangely innocent. There was no malice in this girl's expression, nor hatred, or repugnance. What there was instead was a faint trace of guilt, calling out to Yuffie like a silent scream. The dress she wore was of white cotton, just reaching above her knees. Her hair, curling around her shoulder, was long with the shade of cornflower.

Despite the minor differences, such as the clothes and hair, everything else seemed to belong to Kairi. Milky skin, adolescent face, slender features, even that posture of holding one arm behind her back.

Ansem gave a tiny nod in Namine's direction. With instant comprehension, Namine walked over to the table, taking a white sketchpad off the end which Yuffie had not seen. She flipped to a page, sliding a pencil out of the spring binding, and rubbed the eraser vigorously over the paper.

The flower pod spun, unfurling so fast Yuffie gave a sharp gasp, and disappeared. Namine wiped the eraser shavings from the sketchpad, blowing off the remainder, then closed it shut. Yuffie was on the cold ground, rising.

Her weapons had been stripped from her. Even the holster of her Oritsuru was gone. No knives, no shurikans, she had nothing. That didn't mean she couldn't issue a punch or two when it was due, but Yuffie knew that would be very unwise. Especially when fighting against a foe who could call upon heartless to come swarming in like a plague of locusts.

Ansem stepped in front of Namine, dismissing her with a hand. Again, he rolled his wrist, and a gateway opened up. Namine gave Yuffie a single backwards glance before heading in, disappearing.

When the gateway melted away, Ansem flipped his hood back. The first thing Yuffie noticed was his white hair. Straight and long, it came down to a thin curtain behind his back. Ansem himself was dark, face thin, wide grin, and blazing yellow eyes.

"You have something of mine," he said, voice deep.

"Again with this," Yuffie muttered, hands balling into fists.

"It's not with you, of course." Ansem gave a thoughtful hum, stroking his chin with a sweep of his fingers. "You've hidden it."

Yuffie smirked. "And if I did? What are you going to do, torture me? And what if I told you I had no frickin' idea where it was?" _Which I don't._

"Love is cruel, isn't it?" Ansem sighed, folding both hands behind his back. He turned from her, taking slow footsteps toward the window. Yuffie blinked at him. "It draws you in like a magnet. Like small sips of a fine wine it teases you, until you've consumed so much of it that you become intoxicated, blind to the world around you, yet still wanting more. Even when you think you've become sober, it never leaves you. The sweet scent lingers, part of you."

"What are you babbling about?" Yuffie demanded.

"You love that boy, don't you?"

Yuffie stiffened. "He has nothing to do with this."

"Doesn't he?" Ansem twisted his neck to look at her. "You would like to see him again." It wasn't a question.

"He has nothing to do with this!" Yuffie's insides twisted. _Yes, _she moaned inwardly. _I want to see him. Please let me see him._

It was no longer about wanting to know if he was safe or wanting to know if he was the real Keyblade Master. . .It was about wanting to _see _him. Just to see him would be fine.

"You do." Ansem grinned, feeling her pain.

"Leave him alone," Yuffie said weakly. "I never want to see him again. I left him. I _left _him."

Ansem chuckled. He slid a hand inside his robe and pulled out a crown-shaped card, flipping it from one finger to the other. "Here he is."

Yuffie looked at the card, eyes skeptical. "What are you talking about?"

As an answer, he flung the card at her chest, which she caught between her fingers with a whip of her hand. She turned it over, analyzing the picture. It was a floating world, silver and gold, coursing with waterways and colorful pipes. She recognized it as _Hallow Bastion_, the first world she ever settled in after losing her own.

But why would Riku be there?

"Bye now," Ansem waved, grinning. And give your lover my salutations."

**/************************/A/N/***********************/**

**Why are you still reading this? **


	31. We Meet Again

We Meet Again

31

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Days and nights merged together, a revolving cycle of bright lights and darkness. To Riku all hours looked and felt the same. Castle Oblivion floated so high in the air that even the clouds barely had the reach to brush along the bottom. In his daze, he even managed to ignore the biting chill that slipped through the narrow crevices in the large, dome-like windows.

Maleficent gave him free roam of the entire structure, large as it was, but often Riku found that in his solitude he preferred to be in the library. The thought of scaling the castle walls only to be met with a blank sky and a snapping wind proved to be nothing but a depressing visual for him. Doing so would only remind him of Destiny Island.

A place he hated, yes-that wretched waste of sand-but the excitement of getting off of it was something of splendid value. In this castle there was no excitement. A monument properly named for its utter obscurity, littered with countless heartless and wasting away in the clouds.

Maleficent had given Riku a new outfit, one she found to be more suitable for his conquest. A collaboration of leathery blues and blacks, plastic-wrapped to his body as a weightless armor. From his neck down to his arms, hands and feet he was concealed in this strange material. The only thing that could even be remotely considered heavy were the boots, and even they were flexible and soft-soled as it was.

At first Riku looked upon it with begrudging eyes, yet slipped it around his skin nonetheless. The times he willingly put it on were few and far between, but eventually he became so accustomed to the sleekness of it he considered it to be a second skin.

In times of battle he put it on, as in times of training. There was little for Riku to do in Castle Oblivion while Maleficent scoured the worlds for the next Princess of Heart. The Princesses of Heart were maidens of kindness and light, that when extracted from them the secret power they held unknowingly in their souls, a key was formed. A key that would open the doors to what Maleficent affectionately called _Kingdom Hearts_.

In a grand many ways Riku considered this to be irrelevant to his desires, but Maleficent had promised him something that he wanted. Something which stirred behind the grand doors of Kingdom Hearts, and a thing that Riku would do anything to obtain. If any sacrifice was to be made, he would make it. If any inconvenience was to be endured, he would suffer it. And if kidnapping a few princesses from a band of disconnected faceless worlds was "imperative," it was no problem. So far he'd captured five, relatively without much effort. Their names were told to him once, only to identify them beforehand, but the second they reached Castle Oblivion he forgot them completely.

One of the few wonders of Castle Oblivion. Here, names became meaningless, just as titles and appearances. Whether you were a princess or a king did not matter here. Whether or not you were good or evil did not matter here.

Heartless prayed on everyone, it was only a matter of having the strength to fight them off. Praying on light was their drive, and every heart had light. Yet heartless were becoming more and more wary of him as of late, Riku noticed.

The colors of Twilight flared through the sky, sun sinking beneath the clouds and quickly giving way to a striking blue night. Riku looked away from it, moving soundlessly toward on of the many bookshelves. He picked a random one and flipped through it. Like all the others he'd sporadically picked off and skimmed, every single page was blank. Riku slowly wiped his hand across the smooth surface, thinking a plethora of words might reveal themselves, but there was nothing. Riku often wondered if the books had always been this way, or if they'd undergone the same condition as the princesses upon entering the castle; slowly faded and forgotten.

He put the book back in place. The sound of a latch unhinging shook the hall, followed by a slow and heavy creaking of doors. A string of quiet footsteps clicked across the upper deck, rounding to the top of the stairs. Maleficent was there in all her familiar glory, dark robes bleeding on the floor, long staff held firmly in hand. Riku didn't bother to turn around. Instead he picked another book, flipping through a procession of predictably blank pages.

"Why do you continue to search through these books when you know there is nothing there?" she asked with a genuine curiosity. There was an unmistakable infliction of amusement in her tone.

"What do you want, witch?" Riku said, flipping. _Flip, flip, flip._

"Still so rude, aren't you boy? Even though I've been nothing but motherly toward you." There was no indication of disapproval in her voice, only feigned airiness. Riku said nothing. "A slight problem has arisen down below," she went on. "A very slight one, to be more specific, but one that could prove very irritable if not handled right away. It goes without saying that I expect you to take care of it."

"What kind of problem?" To Riku a slight problem was a boring problem, but any unexpected turn of events, no matter how small, was far more interesting than a library full of tale-less books.

"A beast wails from below, howling the name of a princess whom we have held here in the castle. I would have my heartless silence his racket, but I feel this job lies squarely on your shoulders for being so careless."

"Careless?" Riku crossed his arms. He stared up at her with defiant eyes.

"Indeed, my boy. Had you used a bit more discretion the beast would not have discovered the kidnapping and followed you all the way back here."

"You must be kidding me." Riku gave a snort. "All right, I'll take care of it."

There were two parts of Castle Oblivion. One part was the castle itself, and the other the cavern of water that marked the entrance to the world. A deep lesion in the earth flowing with water, yet completely absent of any life coursing within. No fish, no barnacles, not even coral. Somehow the cavern and Castle Oblivion's waterways were connected, he just didn't know how. The blue, lifeless water there was the same as in the castle. It looked the same. Smelled the same.

When Riku tread upon the stone steps at the peak of the water cavern, he was instantly met by a giant bulk of a creature. The beast, as Maleficent had called him, was very much that. It had a long face that seemed to droop, permanently compressed in a scowl with intimidating dog-like canines protruding upward from its mouth. A good five feet taller than Riku, with a thick mat of brown fur. It had large paw-like hands and feet from which extended lengthy black claws, and looking at them, Riku wondered if it might use them to rake his flesh apart in a fight.

The beast's purple cape whipped in the wind, rising an snapping. The animal lumbered forth, standing upright in a severe crouch, angry eyes never leaving Riku's face. "I'll tell you only once to leave," Riku said. "It's the only warning I'll give."

"Never!" The beast roared with ferocity. "You took Belle. Give her back." Riku clicked the back of his tongue, shaking his head.

"The thought of something like you being able to make its way out of a cage boggles my mind, let alone summon the competence and resources needed to travel from world to world. No vessel. No help from the heartless. So tell me, how did you get here?"

The beast raised two mighty hands over his chest and said, "I simply believed. Nothing more to it. When our world fell into darkness, Belle was taken from me. I vowed I would find her again, no matter what the cost. I believed I would find her. So, here I am. She must be here. . ." The monster's bulk loomed forth with all the threatening display of a mighty lion. "I will have her back!"

Riku took this as indication that the beast's mind was firmly set, and its demise unavoidable. "Take her if you can."

A guttural roar cut from the beast's chest, shaking the caverns. With a powerful spring of its heels, it lunged at Riku.

He jumped back, preparing for contact. A sword appeared in his hand, stretching from darkness. He pulled his arm back, end pointed straight forward. The bulk of the beast was airborne still, and when its claws came forth to tear Riku's heart out, he dodged them, speeding forward with a smooth dash and lodged the jagged blade into the beast's stomach.

Riku held his weight against the giant beast who slouched over him. It was in such as shock that for a long moment, it didn't move. Riku felt its course fur pressing against his face, smelling the odor of a wild animal on him. Disgusted, he unhinged the sword from the beast's body with a rough jerk, stepping away to let it topple on the cold ground.

"Stop!" someone cried.

Riku turned unsurprisingly to see Sora, ascending to the beast's rescue. Maleficent had been tracking Sora for a long while now, and Riku knew it. She didn't bother to hide it from him. As expected Sora had his two companions with him, a duck and a dog. Such a poor and sad choice of company, the infamous Keyblade Master had chosen.

Sora had it with him, the Keyblade, clasped in his hand tightly. Riku grinned. "So, you finally made it. About time. I've been waiting for you." He considered his friend for a moment, temporarily lost in the mist of time. Such a familiar pair of blue eyes he was looking at, a pair that reminded him of the innocent oceans of home. "We've always been rivals, haven't we?" Riku lamented. "You've always pushed me as I've always pushed you. And I thank you for that, Sora. But it ends here. There can't be two Keyblade Masters."

"What are you talking about?"

Riku brought his hand up, palm outfaced. He was full of confidence that the Keyblade would never choose such a weak opponent as Sora. Riku had lavished in his new power for months with a certainty that nearly no force alive was capable of opposition. He wasn't quite where he wanted to be, but even at his lowest peak he knew that Sora's best efforts would not stand a chance.

Sora's Keyblade wriggled. Riku felt a tingling in his palm. Like a magnet the Keyblade was drawn to Riku, enticed by his power, by the rightful law of belonging. The Keyblade should have chosen him in the first place, a fact that even the Keyblade had accepted long ago. There was a weak struggle inside the Keyblade that fought to stay where it was, but Riku was too strong.

So great a weapon deserved a more competent wielder.

In his mind Riku saw the Keyblade in his hand, fighting for him, purging his enemies. With his current Keyblade he could defeat any heartless, but with the Master's Key he could defeat even Maleficent.

Sora struggled, pulling the Keyblade back with physical force. The fruitlessness of his efforts dawned on Riku as the most amusing thing he'd ever seen, and he smirked.

A sharp whistle of the wind suddenly cut through the air, so quiet it was almost soundless. A spike of pain singed Riku's forehead, and he stumbled on his heels. Surprised, he looked and saw a the shape of a card spinning off in the distance, disappearing into the sky. The castle had it now, whatever it was.

Riku touched his index finger to his head and recovered a smear of blood. With it he felt a burning sting upon his forehead, sharp and hot like that of a paper-cut. Looking down into the cavern he tried to locate the source. His breath caught. The entire length of his windpipe hollowed with dry air.

"What do you think you're doing?" she called from below. With a procession of urgent bounds she made her way to Sora's side, regarding him the briefest of tender looks.

"Yuffie. . ." Sora gasped. Riku saw the reflex to smile play upon his lips, but something would not let it pull through. "Yuffie, I can't believe it's you. . ."

Yuffie tried to smile at him, yet could not make it all the way from ear to ear. "I can't believe it's you," she chuckled. A nervous chuckle.

She looked at Riku then, unsmiling. His chest lurched. "Stilled by a stupid card, Riku?" she said, taking a single step forward. "Can't believe you didn't see it coming." Another step. "I taught you better than that."

Riku lowered his eyes at her. Through a long silvery icicles he produced a glare, cold and solid. She hesitated at the sight of it. Sounds died from around the two, and for a second Riku could almost hear her breath, unsteady and quick. From fear.

The way she looked at him. . .

He could hear every word spoken through her eyes. _Riku. . . What happened to you?_

Riku wiped the beast's blood off his sword, pulling the blade through a knot of his shirt.

A heartless appeared, round and black. More Darkballs followed. Another. Then Another. More of them. Riku took no notice.

"You did."

"Yuffie, look out!" Sora was too late. Riku sprang at her, blade's edge gleaming. Yuffie blocked his attack with her crossblade. A look of utter bewilderment colored every bit of her face, and he ruptured it. Together they went tumbling off the edge onto another platform. Sora called out to the both of them, voiced cracked with panic. The darkballs flew at Sora in unison. Goofy bucked one across the cavern with his shield as Donald incapacitated three with a surge of thunder. Beast rose from his injury to fight along Sora as more of them appeared.

Riku and Yuffie continued to fight. This wasn't sparring anymore. Those days were gone. And she'd cast them away.

Her fault.

Riku slashed with precision. His blows were angry, but not blind. Yuffie tried to attack, yet all she could do was block. His assault was so aggressive and quick it left no room for counter. Their weapons sang in the air, notes absorbed by the crashing of water. With every slash Yuffie made, he was quicker.

Riku prided himself with what he'd learned since their departure. He was so much stronger than before, and surely she could see it. The look of Yuffie on the defensive gave him spine-rattling pleasure. In the beginning she'd been stronger. She was always stronger. Her experience far exceeded his own, but none of that mattered anymore. With Maleficent's help he'd become stronger than he ever thought possible.

Riku wanted to show Yuffie all his strength. He wanted to display all of his power, all his progress, everything he'd accomplished without her.

She was fast as always, but this time that was a disadvantage. Because Riku was faster. He made a side-slash. Then a down-slash. Yuffie dodged to the left, then he kicked her down another platform. He leaped upon her, aiming for her abdomen, but she rolled. Yuffie was quick to rise, but Riku made a slash at her exposed stomach. The bat-shaped blade made instant contact, cutting through the skin. A cry of pain-the first one Riku had ever heard from her-cut from her lungs and backwards she went.

Before falling off the platform entirely, Riku made a grab at her throat. He went over the edge with her into the freezing water. Riku's pores stung with the shock of it. He lost his grip on Yuffie, who was swimming toward a flattened stone pillar, rising just out of the water. He swam after her and caught her by the leg before she could ascend. She kicked him in the chest, and back into the water he fell. A moment of disorientation overtook him, misguiding his sense of direction, but a hand plunged into the water and snatched him by the collar to pull him to the surface.

He opened his eyes and saw Yuffie kneeling over him, knees planted on the stone. She had a pointed end of her crossblade aimed at him, but Riku made no move to escape. He stared her in the eyes, ignoring the weapon entirely. She looked back at him with her chest heaving urgent breathes, eyes wild with discombobulated surprise.

Riku was face to face with the wound on her stomach. It bled profusely, leaking onto the stone and fanning into the water beside him. With a brief observation he realized it was not the only wound he'd made. With a steady sight of her he could see small cuts everywhere. Even on her face.

However, despite all the wounds, all the bruises and all the relentless force he'd used upon executing each blow, Riku could find no anger in her. He didn't understand why. Yet he waited for her to follow through with an attack. She didn't, and he smiled.

This, for some reason, came as even more of a shock to her than the first attack. Riku found a groove in the pillar underneath the water and wedged his foot inside, using the leverage to thrust himself upon her.

She crashed to the ground underneath him, crossblade sliding away only to splash into the water. Riku held her by the throat, fingers wrapped nearly all the way around her neck. He crouched over her, weapon pointed to her chin. He was surprised that she didn't put up a fight, or even attempt to. Instead she stared at him eyes so listless it appeared as if her soul had been drained.

"Are you going to kill me, Riku?" she said.

Riku's jaw locked. A second passed in which seemed like an entire empire had time to rise and fall. From his island he'd set forth with a wish. A wish to no longer explore and grow, but to destroy. He remembered her betrayal. He remembered her leaving.

Riku drew his weapon high. Yuffie didn't even cringe away. The sword then clattered to the ground beside them.

He leaned down, and kissed her.

**/*******************************/A/N/*************************/**

**Woah, where did all the time go, huh? Lol. Remember, this is a collaboration of KH1 and KH2, so I'm going to have to play around with the times a little. See you again in the future. I haven't given up. This is proof. Let us make it to the end together, kay?**


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